I am 12 years old and I know how to program. I want to work on a GNU project but I'm not sure that it's legal.
I know that I can legally program but in part 2.2 of http://www.gnu.org/prep/standards/standards.html it says "Each person who makes a nontrivial contribution to a program must sign some sort of legal papers....."
I doubt if it's legal for me to sign legal papers.
So is it legal for me to sign the legal papers?
If not is there any other way that I could work on a project with other programmers (preferably a GNU one)? Because I know that the best way for me to get better at programming is to work with people who have been programmers for a long time and are good at it.
Thanks,
Ryan
2007-06-19 18:39:48 · 4 answers · asked by Ryan N 2 in Computers & Internet ➔ Programming & Design
Hey Ryan!
I have no answer to your question, but I just want to tell you that I admire what you're doing: wanting to become a better programmer, wanting to participate in a GNU project, and even investigating what you need to do, legally, to get involved. It's quite a relief to read a posting like yours when most kids your age nowadays always ask for "easy ways to learn to learn how to hack."
Software development is not easy (nothing of value ever is), but it's SOOOO rewarding!! I hope you'll end up agreeing with me, and I look forward to maybe some day using the software that you made/contributed to!
2007-06-19 19:32:44 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you read on in that document, I think you will find that it says that for persons under 18 (or possibly 16, i forget) must have a responsible parent sign papers for them. also, those legal requirements are only for people who make non-trivial contributions, you can get involved in the project, by testing and debugging, but you will not need to sign anything unless you give them code to include.
2007-06-20 01:45:59 · answer #2 · answered by toby d 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Don't ask us, ask them. Probably you need to sign a paper that says this is entirely your own work - since you are not working with other people and you might have to have it countersigned by one of your parents.
2007-06-20 01:46:09 · answer #3 · answered by Mike1942f 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You do not have the legal capacity to sign any legal contract at that age....But your parents can...
2007-06-20 01:43:55 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋