We have created a fairly involved Drupal distribution that we use to build client sites. Currently we are using the database copy method to start new sites. We have been working on a true installation profile so the recipe can be distributed the Drupal community.
A lot of work has gone into this and the main thing we want to avoid is someone taking all this work and claiming it as their own. Basically, we want to maintain attribution back to the authors.
I originally thought the GPL supported this. E.g you could do basically anything with the code except remove copyright notices. However, I don’t see where any of these copyright/attribution notices are in existing contributed modules or where we need to put them.
Is there a way to maintain author attribution and if so, how is it done?
Thanks in advance,
Tom
Comments
Karma and commits
There is no formal way that specific contributions to specific blocks of code is tracked. The way most people get credit for their Drupal work is:
1) Maintainer of a module/theme/profile. The maintainer is listed directly on each project, and some projects list a sponsoring company in the description.
2) Commit messages. Good maintainers mention the name/handle of the author of a given patch in the commit message, which acts as an informal record of who has done what.
3) Karma. Once you do something cool and release it, people get to know you and your work by reputation. Strategic blogging can help here if you're really concerned about getting your name out.
The GPL makes no requirement that the original author be mentioned, just that the code be distributed under the GPL if distributed. There's fairly little issue with actual plagiarism in the Drupal community that I've seen. So the odds of someone claiming that they wrote an install profile that you are distributing via drupal.org are very very low. They probably will simply distribute it as "the Foo profile", not "the Foo profile by TomDude48". If it's a good enough profile, TomDude48's name will be listed on the project page and people will learn that the two go together.
Make sense?
Marketing
Tom -- I commented on your install profile. I would encourage you to go ahead and create an install profile on Drupal.org.
Making it clear that you are the originators can be done a number of different ways. I would "brand" your install profile, put a section on your website about it, and you could even add something like a default block or footer message which links back to LevelTen. Yep, people can edit it and change it, but they WILL see it.
Other developers even add messages / links to the admin segment of the modules with contact us links and so on. Hidden links are a no no, but especially links in the admin section are a great way to let people know how to get in touch with you.
Are you guys on Drupal Planet yet? If you create a Drupal category / tag / feed, then all the posts from your company can be aggregated. This is a good post, just needs a Drupal tag.
I think you'll find that people will definitely know that it's your work -- see the Hostmaster install profile and the Aegir group for some examples of links and contributor mentions.