* I am never clear what this line really mean. Copyright Joe Coder 2010 - does this mean Joe has copyright up to 2010, starting 2010 or only in 2010? Should one keep updating these disclaimers every January?
Shouldn't you first learn what it means before forming an opinion to change it?
Does it matter? My point is that it is confusing in general for anyone looking at this line.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_notice This should clarify the meaning and maintenance requirements. I would say that this has been a standard for a really long time so you cannot really say it's confusing for anyone. Personally, I like the ability to tell the main author(s) of the code without relying on GitHub - after all, somebody may only have access to a copy of the source code file. I think removing the copyright notice would not deprive anyone of their rights, and probably is an allowed modification under the Boost Software License (whereas removing the BSL notice is not). Still, I would not remove such "signatures" out of my respect for the authors. (I'm not saying you are not showing enough respect. I understand you just want to get rid of source code lines that you don't see useful.) Cheers, Filip