[parted-devel] including author names in --version output

[Jim Meyering]

David Cantrell <dcantrell at redhat.com> wrote:
> I have no problems listing the names in the AUTHORS file or on the web
> site, but I don't see the point in having this information in the
> --version output.  Too many people have contributed.  It's not simply a
> single author.  We should collectively refer to the AUTHOR pool as the
> GNU project since we are all working for that project.  The AUTHORS file
> exists to list everyone by name, if they want to.  But that information
> is not appropriate for the --version output.

Hi David,

As Andrew mentioned, having one's name listed where it can be
more easily seen, is a motivating factor for some.  Think of it
as a small price to pay as thanks for their contribution.

For each of the 90+ programs in coreutils, I've listed only the names of
people who have contributed significantly to an application.  That
means I list the original author(s), and anyone who contributes a big
feature or does a significant rewrite.  That has the disadvantage of
not giving credit to the people who work on individual library modules
used by the application.
Here, where the libraries and the application are pretty tightly
coupled, it's a little different: the list of names is longer.

Anyhow, I like the idea of listing the names, but don't want to rock
the boat, so perhaps this (what's in my pending patch) is good enough:

  $ ./parted --version
  parted (GNU parted) 1.9.9
  Copyright (C) 2007 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
  This is free software.  You may redistribute copies of it under the terms of
  the GNU General Public License <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>.
  There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.

  Written by <http://parted.alioth.debian.org/cgi-bin/trac.cgi/browser/AUTHORS>.