[U-Boot] [IMPORTANT NOTE] License handling

[U-Boot] [IMPORTANT NOTE] License handling

[Wolfgang Denk]

Hello all,

this is to raise your attention to some small but important change in
the way we're dealing with software licenses in U-Boot.

Don't be afraid - the licensing itself does not change at all, we just
change the way how we express the license terms in the source code.

Please see commit

eca3aeb   2013-07-24 09:44:16 -0400   Licenses: introduce SPDX Unique
                                      Lincense Identifiers

What does that mean:

- New files being added to U-Boot should no longer include a
  multi-line license header; instead, they shall contain a single line
  Unique Lincense Identifier, i. e. a line like this:

  	SPDX-License-Identifier:        GPL-2.0+

  For details, please see   http://www.denx.de/wiki/U-Boot/Licensing

- Any help in cleaning up the remaining files (replacing existing
  license headers by Unique Lincense Identifiers) is welcome - but
  note that this is a task that needs to be done carefully - fully
  automatic editing is not really an option, as for example some files
  were found that included not one, but two (and incompatible!)
  license headers, so it really needs careful consideration how to
  resolve such issues.


To all custodians:  please have a special look at any new code being
added, and help guiding users to this new policy of using Unique
Lincense Identifiers.

Thanks for all your help!

Best regards,

Wolfgang Denk

-- 
DENX Software Engineering GmbH,     MD: Wolfgang Denk & Detlev Zundel
HRB 165235 Munich, Office: Kirchenstr.5, D-82194 Groebenzell, Germany
Phone: (+49)-8142-66989-10 Fax: (+49)-8142-66989-80 Email: wd at denx.de
Let the programmers be many and the managers few -- then all will  be
productive.               -- Geoffrey James, "The Tao of Programming"

[U-Boot] [IMPORTANT NOTE] License handling

[Albert ARIBAUD]

On Thu, 25 Jul 2013 21:20:58 +0200, Wolfgang Denk <wd@denx.de> wrote:

> Hello all,
> 
> this is to raise your attention to some small but important change in
> the way we're dealing with software licenses in U-Boot.
> 
> Don't be afraid - the licensing itself does not change at all, we just
> change the way how we express the license terms in the source code.
> 
> Please see commit
> 
> eca3aeb   2013-07-24 09:44:16 -0400   Licenses: introduce SPDX Unique
>                                       Lincense Identifiers
> 
> What does that mean:
> 
> - New files being added to U-Boot should no longer include a
>   multi-line license header; instead, they shall contain a single line
>   Unique Lincense Identifier, i. e. a line like this:
> 
>   	SPDX-License-Identifier:        GPL-2.0+
> 
>   For details, please see   http://www.denx.de/wiki/U-Boot/Licensing
> 
> - Any help in cleaning up the remaining files (replacing existing
>   license headers by Unique Lincense Identifiers) is welcome - but
>   note that this is a task that needs to be done carefully - fully
>   automatic editing is not really an option, as for example some files
>   were found that included not one, but two (and incompatible!)
>   license headers, so it really needs careful consideration how to
>   resolve such issues.
> 
> 
> To all custodians:  please have a special look at any new code being
> added, and help guiding users to this new policy of using Unique
> Lincense Identifiers.

ARM-related repo custodians in particular, note that u-boot-arm/master
has merged current u-boot/master and that, at this time, there is no
stray licence comment block remaining in there. Please make sure your
PRs to ARM do not (re)introduce any.

> Thanks for all your help!

What Wolfgang said. :)

> Best regards,
> 
> Wolfgang Denk

Amicalement,
-- 
Albert.

[U-Boot] [IMPORTANT NOTE] License handling

[Masahiro Yamada]

Hello, Wolfgang.


> - New files being added to U-Boot should no longer include a
>   multi-line license header; instead, they shall contain a single line
>   Unique Lincense Identifier, i. e. a line like this:
> 
>   	SPDX-License-Identifier:        GPL-2.0+


I have a question about this.
Does this rule apply to files imported from other projects?

For example, when adding files that originate from the Linux Kernel
with modification for U-Boot, should we replace the legacy license
block with SPDX-License-Identifer?
Or can we keep the license block untouched?

Best Regards
Masahiro Yamada

[U-Boot] [IMPORTANT NOTE] License handling

[Wolfgang Denk]

Dear Masahiro Yamada,

In message <20130730195026.79DC.AA925319@jp.panasonic.com> you wrote:
> 
> Does this rule apply to files imported from other projects?

Yes, it does.  The whole process only makes sense when all files in
the U-Boot source tree can be identified based on the SPDX ID strings.

> For example, when adding files that originate from the Linux Kernel
> with modification for U-Boot, should we replace the legacy license
> block with SPDX-License-Identifer?

Yes, please do.

Best regards,

Wolfgang Denk

-- 
DENX Software Engineering GmbH,     MD: Wolfgang Denk & Detlev Zundel
HRB 165235 Munich, Office: Kirchenstr.5, D-82194 Groebenzell, Germany
Phone: (+49)-8142-66989-10 Fax: (+49)-8142-66989-80 Email: wd at denx.de
Real programmers don't comment their code. It was hard to  write,  it
should be hard to understand.

[U-Boot] [IMPORTANT NOTE] License handling

[Graeme Russ]

Hi Masahiro

On Tue, Jul 30, 2013 at 8:50 PM, Masahiro Yamada
<yamada.m@jp.panasonic.com>wrote:

> Hello, Wolfgang.
>
>
> > - New files being added to U-Boot should no longer include a
> >   multi-line license header; instead, they shall contain a single line
> >   Unique Lincense Identifier, i. e. a line like this:
> >
> >       SPDX-License-Identifier:        GPL-2.0+
>
>
> I have a question about this.
> Does this rule apply to files imported from other projects?
>
> For example, when adding files that originate from the Linux Kernel
> with modification for U-Boot, should we replace the legacy license
> block with SPDX-License-Identifer?
> Or can we keep the license block untouched


I kind of raised this before - SPDX is not only a way of simplifying the
license text, but also to provide a 'chain of authenticity'.

The idea would be to reduce the license text in U-Boot to just the
SPDX-License-Identifier, but we should also provide details on where the
original file came from. I guess this is the next (harder) step.

Wolfgang: How do you think this should be best handled? I still haven't
found a definitive reference for the use of SPDX-License-Identifier - are
there other identifiers which can be used to specify the original source of
the file?

Regards,

Graeme

[U-Boot] [IMPORTANT NOTE] License handling

[Wolfgang Denk]

Dear Graeme Russ,

In message <CALButCK063=8_5pW8fdkHgo8v4Wc7SukDoLpAsOvS-doP_KwRg@mail.gmail.com> you wrote:
>
> The idea would be to reduce the license text in U-Boot to just the
> SPDX-License-Identifier, but we should also provide details on where the
> original file came from. I guess this is the next (harder) step.

Full agreement here.  But actually this has been a requirement for
some time already, see section "Attributing Code, Copyrights, Signing"
(and especially bullet # 4 there) at [1]

[1] http://www.denx.de/wiki/view/U-Boot/Patches#Attributing_Code_Copyrights_Sign

OK, this records such information in the git history, but that's
better than nothing.

> Wolfgang: How do you think this should be best handled? I still haven't
> found a definitive reference for the use of SPDX-License-Identifier - are
> there other identifiers which can be used to specify the original source of
> the file?

Well, in my (definitely limited) understanding of the SPDX
specification the "sourceInfo" property appears to be the best fit for
such information - so we could for example define entries
"SPDX-Source-Info" which could contain this - in a T.B.D. format ?


Best regards,

Wolfgang Denk

-- 
DENX Software Engineering GmbH,     MD: Wolfgang Denk & Detlev Zundel
HRB 165235 Munich, Office: Kirchenstr.5, D-82194 Groebenzell, Germany
Phone: (+49)-8142-66989-10 Fax: (+49)-8142-66989-80 Email: wd at denx.de
You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of  focus.
- Mark Twain