Transmission Begins makes extensive use of software written by others, and I generally prefer software that comes with source code (I plan to sell my own in that form). Of course, software doesn't always do exactly what I need, so small changes are needed.
By their nature, these changes aren't always suitable for contribution back to the original, although that's a nice outcome if it can be arranged.
I work on these projects in a Subversion repository: https://hopper.transmisisonbegins.com/ ('Hopper'). While you can access that with your browser, I've not linked it because it is designed to be accessed by a Subversion client.
Hopper contains the copyrighted work of others, which Transmission Begins has the rights to distribute the source code to (For example, GPL or BSD licensed software). It will also contain the changes that I make to tweak the software for local use. My understanding of copyright law is that Transmission Begins holds a copyright over those changes, and this can complicate the process of taking the code back to another project because my permission is needed.
Therefore, as a matter of policy, all changes made by Transmission Begins to software in Hopper are hereby placed in the public domain. Everyone with write access to that repository will be required to agree to this policy. For the avoidance of doubt, this is not intended to dilute or change the copyright that others hold in their work that is in Hopper.
Occasionally, it may make sense for Transmission Begins to place projects of its own on Hopper, and in this case, they will also be placed in the public domain.
This policy is recorded at: https://hopper.transmissionbegins.com/Licence.txt
© John McAleely, 2010