I noticed that when you make a WPILIBJ java project, there is always always a copyright header on top. We deleted it from a few files, but were wondering if they serve any purpose. Is it necessary to have it on top of the files?
1 Like
Legally, FIRST holds the copyright for the examples and templates. There was discussion of releasing them under a public domain license, but it never actually happened (probably for reasons I am unaware of).
Practically… as long as you don’t release your source code under a restrictive license, you’ll probably be okay.
so… no issues if I remove the headers?
How do I post that popcorn GIF?
1 Like
The reason is we never got around to it. We were trying to find a header license that wasn’t like 50 lines long, didn’t really find one, and just kind of forgot about that issue.
You are fine to remove those headers. Feel free to do so.
Just don’t remove the headers. Why do you want to? Generally, you’re not supposed remove headers of copyrighted code.
Now FIRST is hardly going to sue you over it, but it’s good professional programming practice to leave them in place.
Edit: Is Thad_House a member of the WPILib development team? Obviously I speak for no one but myself. Also, I wouldn’t get upset at anyone for removing the headers (to clarify my feelings).
Yes, Thad is a member of the development team. To which the next question is sure to be “is Peter a member of the development team?”
We will get it fixed for next year. I think the basic message though is that no, FIRST won’t be suing anyone over it in the meantime.
The templates are clearly designed to be modified by teams. It would be best practice for teams to add to the copyright message rather than removing it, but we understand the question and want to move in more of a public domain direction for what is provided.
1 Like
Haha. You at least have it next to your name in your ChiefDelphi description. Thanks for the work you both do.
For some reason, I guess mine had gotten deleted. I added it back in. But yes, I am a WPILib dev.
1 Like
Sorry that was sent by one of our goofy programmers
1 Like
This topic was automatically closed 365 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.