Hi all,

small notes to the relicensing effort. Please see http://lists.squeakfoundation.org/pipermail/squeak-dev/2007-July/119133.html. As you maybe know, the main idea is to have relatively small image that contains only free code and that is able to load the rest of current Squeak.

I have selected about 3000 methods that can do this job and started with the license change of the code:

1) code from all the people that signed the license agreement is free

2) some methods with non-standard initials were fixed (initialsFix.st) to generate valid table of authors

3) this initials are considered to be free: ab jm sma fbs BP MD md sd NouryBouraqadi stephaneducassse tpr. That are mostly initials of known authors in a different form.

4) I compared the code with the code of free Squeak 1.1 and if the code was the same and had no author, I added this comment: "from Squeak 1.1". Such methods have new initials (pk).

5) if the method has the same code as in Squeak 1.1 but initials of a contributor that haven't signed the agreement, it includes comment like: "from Squeak 1.1, reformated by Andrew C. Greenberg". The new initials are mine again.

6) The most problematic is the rest of non-free code. You may find the list of this methods here:

http://comtalk.net/public/pub/KernelImage/license/ (odf table, pdf)

It's 316 methods. Some of them are simple accessors and are very easy to rewrite - there's the special column with this information.

The next column contains original free code from Squeak 1.1 (if any). It is always somehow different from the current version. I have created next column with comment information that says how the original method should be changed. For example it says that the ZeroDivide class should be used instead of general error etc.. Of course some methods aren't easy to rewrite (comments like significant changes or different code).

So I'm looking for a good soul that wants to help and will write this accessors and will modify the original methods where the information enable it. This person must not see current versions of this methods! That's why I cannot do that by myself.

Then we will have got about 200 kernel methods to rewrite. We need to build two teams for that task: - one group of people will read the current code and will write tests that will specify the functionality of the methods (plus maybe some useful comments or hints) - the second group will write the new implementation. The members of this group must not see the current implementation.

As the bonus to the free kernel we will have got more tests. I think that this is the best way how to correctly change the license of non-free Squeak code. If you have better idea, tell me.

So, volunteers? ;-)

Chees, -- Pavel