[R-pkg-devel] Splitting maintainer from creator

[Ben Bolker]

I think the problem is that MARC terms
<https://www.loc.gov/marc/relators/relaterm.html> don't seem to have
any choices analogous to "maintainer".

Author [aut] A person, family, or organization responsible for
creating a work that is primarily textual in content, regardless of
media type (e.g., printed text, spoken word, electronic text, tactile
text) or genre (e.g., poems, novels, screenplays, blogs). Use also for
persons, etc., creating a new work by paraphrasing, rewriting, or
adapting works by another creator such that the modification has
substantially changed the nature and content of the original or
changed the medium of expression

{Note under "Joint author": use "Author".  There doesn't seem to be a
concept of "primary author" here.}

Creator [cre] A person or organization responsible for the
intellectual or artistic content of a resource

If we were starting again, we might choose maintainer="Editor" ...

Editor [edt] A person, family, or organization contributing to a
resource by revising or elucidating the content, e.g., adding an
introduction, notes, or other critical matter. An editor may also
prepare a resource for production, publication, or distribution. For
major revisions, adaptations, etc., that substantially change the
nature and content of the original work, resulting in a new work, see
author

Other interesting tags:

Conceptor [ccp] A person or organization responsible for the original
idea on which a work is based, this includes the scientific author of
an audio-visual item and the conceptor of an advertisement

Dubious author [dub] A person or organization to which authorship has
been dubiously or incorrectly ascribed

On Tue, Apr 2, 2019 at 1:58 PM Roy Mendelssohn - NOAA Federal via
R-package-devel <r-package-devel using r-project.org> wrote:
>
>
>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Roy Mendelssohn - NOAA Federal <roy.mendelssohn using noaa.gov>
> To: "Maëlle SALMON via R-package-devel" <r-package-devel using r-project.org>
> Cc:
> Bcc:
> Date: Tue, 2 Apr 2019 10:58:08 -0700
> Subject: Splitting maintainer from creator
> Hi All;
>
> In defining the roles in Description file of a package,  has there been any thought of adding a role of maintainer separate from creator  (cre).  While the definition given says:
>
> > cre: the creator or maintainer, the person you should bother if you have problems.
>
> that "or" separates two really distinct roles.  To me the sense of the word "creator' is the person or persons who originally created the package.  A present maintainer may well have only added patches to the present package,  but would need to be defined as "cre" to be the one to receive emails.
>
> Thanks,
>
> -Roy
>
> **********************
> "The contents of this message do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or NOAA."
> **********************
> Roy Mendelssohn
> Supervisory Operations Research Analyst
> NOAA/NMFS
> Environmental Research Division
> Southwest Fisheries Science Center
> ***Note new street address***
> 110 McAllister Way
> Santa Cruz, CA 95060
> Phone: (831)-420-3666
> Fax: (831) 420-3980
> e-mail: Roy.Mendelssohn using noaa.gov www: http://www.pfeg.noaa.gov/
>
> "Old age and treachery will overcome youth and skill."
> "From those who have been given much, much will be expected"
> "the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice" -MLK Jr.
>
>
>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Roy Mendelssohn - NOAA Federal via R-package-devel <r-package-devel using r-project.org>
> To: "Maëlle SALMON via R-package-devel" <r-package-devel using r-project.org>
> Cc:
> Bcc:
> Date: Tue, 2 Apr 2019 10:58:08 -0700
> Subject: [R-pkg-devel] Splitting maintainer from creator
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