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Authored by: Anonymous on Saturday, April 28 2012 @ 12:42 AM EDT |
I will correct you. You are somewhat wrong.
With Java came Javadoc and Javadoc-style comments. However, self documenting
code has been around long before Linux or Java. In fact, it is quite common
(even standard) to place C/C++ comments in the header files and keep the
implementation details separated such that you can change the implementation
without violating the stable API/ABI of a library.
Though tools like Doxgen can understand Javadoc like comments, it can also
understand its own flavor of documentation comments, and various tools exist for
extracting documentation from sources -- Many IDEs (code authoring tools) do so
in real-time, as you type source code (to help you remember what you're
typing).
Doxygen can traverse the C code of Linux and read both its .H and .C files to
find the comments and relevant constants, variables and function signatures,
including functions that are inline, and not listed in .H files at all.
One could consider such such extracted data as mere facts of how to use Linux.
The creative descriptions in the comments themselves would be copyrightable.
However if you stripped the comments of any creative elements you would be left
with only interface facts about Linux -- An API -- with which one could
construct a compatible Kernel by implementing your own unique source code.
This is what Google did with Java to make Android. This is what Linus did to
Unix to make Linux. This is why SCO lost, and why Oracle should too.[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]
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