Re: [PATCH] checkpatch.pl: Check for the FSF mailing address

[Greg Kroah-Hartman <gregkh@linuxfoundation.org>]

On Sun, Oct 06, 2013 at 12:01:52AM -0700, Joe Perches wrote:
> On Sat, 2013-10-05 at 23:27 -0700, Greg Kroah-Hartman wrote:
> > On Sat, Oct 05, 2013 at 11:51:48AM -0700, Joe Perches wrote:
> > > On Sat, 2013-10-05 at 11:43 -0700, Josh Triplett wrote:
> > > > Kernel maintainers reject new instances of the GPL boilerplate paragraph
> > > > directing people to write to the FSF for a copy of the GPL, since the
> > > > FSF has moved in the past and may do so again.
> > > []
> > > > diff --git a/scripts/checkpatch.pl b/scripts/checkpatch.pl
> > > []
> > > > +# Check for FSF mailing addresses.
> > > > +		if ($rawline =~ /You should have received a copy/ || 
> > > There are over 9,000 of these in the tree.
> > > > +		    $rawline =~ /write to the Free Software/ ||
> > > Over 7,000
> > > > +		    $rawline =~ /59 Temple Place/ ||
> > > Over 3,500
> > > > +		    $rawline =~ /51 Franklin Street/) {
> > > Over 1,500
> > 
> > Then we should remove them all.
> []
> > I don't want to see this get worse over time, Josh, thanks for doing
> > this checkpatch patch.
> 
> What about the warranty disclaimer?
> 
> This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
> but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
> MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
> GNU General Public License for more details.

As an individual file is not the sum of the "program", I would argue
that it is not needed, but some companies like to feel better by adding
it.  So I really don't mind either way, as it would involve arguing with
lawyers about this type of thing, and I do enough of that already that I
don't go out of my way to do it more...

thanks,

greg k-h