how much right do I have on my project, if there are patches by others?

[John Cowan]

Joseph Hick scripsit:

> so in order to avoid it, i have to reject his patch
> and code the same changes myself. is there any other way?

As you know, you can also ask the patch author to transfer the
copyright; a third way is to ask for the patch to be licensed
under a permissive license such as the BSD license that is
compatible with both the GPL and proprietary use.

-- 
John Cowan    http://ccil.org/~cowan  cowan at ccil.org
The Penguin shall hunt and devour all that is crufty, gnarly and
bogacious; all code which wriggles like spaghetti, or is infested with
blighting creatures, or is bound by grave and perilous Licences shall it
capture.  And in capturing shall it replicate, and in replicating shall
it document, and in documentation shall it bring freedom, serenity and
most cool froodiness to the earth and all who code therein.  --Gospel of Tux