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Paul Weaver wrote: > On Fri, Aug 04, 2006 at 08:42:49PM +0100, Keith Abraham wrote: >> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/08/04/uk_unis_loving_linux/ >> >> "But a low percentage of institutions make contributions or submit >> patches back to the open source community. Of universities and colleges >> which do use open source software, only 14 per cent even know whether or >> not they contribute to ongoing open source development. >> >> The difficulty for many institutions is that intellectual property >> rights reside with the university, which can make handing over code >> difficult. Different institutions have different policies - some use >> employment contracts to enforce intellectual property rights. Metcalfe >> said it was an issue universities must address." >> >> How do some universities get away with that? > > Get away with owning students/lecturers rights? It's a standard contract > that you sign. You'll find it in most work contracts. > It's many, many years since I was in Uni so I suppose I'm somewhat out of touch. I just don't remember signing any work contract. If I recollect correctly, when one published a piece of work, it was sufficient and ethical to acknowledge the Uni,the immediate staff and any of your fellow students who had helped in it's production. In my day it was said that the role of a University was to further the knowledge of mankind. I suppose today it's role is an insular one; to further the Uni's financial well being. Keith -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG http://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/linux_adm/list-faq.html