> -----Original Message-----
> From: Richard Fontana <[email protected]>
> Sent: Tuesday, February 17, 2026 6:12 PM
> To: Bird, Tim <[email protected]>
> Cc: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected];
> [email protected]; [email protected];
> [email protected]; [email protected]
> Subject: Re: [PATCH v2] ALSA: opl4: Add SPDX id lines to files in opl4 driver
>
> On Tue, Feb 17, 2026 at 6: 23 PM Tim Bird <tim. bird@ sony. com> wrote: > >
> Add a license file for the BSD-Source-Code license variant. > Add
> "SPDX-License-Identifier GPL-2. 0-or-later OR BSD-Source-Code" > to files
> using this license
>
> On Tue, Feb 17, 2026 at 6:23 PM Tim Bird <[email protected]> wrote:
> >
> > Add a license file for the BSD-Source-Code license variant.
> > Add "SPDX-License-Identifier GPL-2.0-or-later OR BSD-Source-Code"
> > to files using this license and the 'Alternatively...' language.
> > Remove the boilerplate text from the files.
>
> [. . .]
> > +License-Text:
> > +
> > +Copyright (c) <year> <owner> . All rights reserved.
> > +
> > +Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
> > +modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:
> > +
> > + - Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice,
> > + this list of conditions and the following disclaimer,
> > + without modification.
> > +
> > + - The name of the author may not be used to endorse or promote products
> > + derived from this software without specific prior written permission.
> > +
> > +THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE AUTHOR AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND
> > +ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
> > +IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
> > +ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR
> > +ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL
> > +DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS
> > +OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION)
> > +HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT
> > +LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY
> > +OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF
> > +SUCH DAMAGE.
>
> This isn't (at least not currently) `BSD-Source-Code`. See:
> https://spdx.org/licenses/BSD-Source-Code.html
> and https://github.com/spdx/license-list-XML/blob/main/src/BSD-Source-Code.xml
Yeah. I used the wording from the files in the Linux kernel. There are about
3 variations of
the wording for this license that I have found so far. I included the URL for
the SPDX version
in the kernel's license file in this patch.
Here is the wording from the SPDX site:
-----
Redistribution and use of this software in source and binary forms, with or
without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are
met:
* Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this
list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
* Neither the name of Deusty nor the names of its contributors may be used to
endorse or promote products derived from this software without specific prior
written permission of Deusty, LLC.
THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND
ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED
WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE
DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE
FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL
DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR
SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER
CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY,
OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE
OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
-----
While there *are* textual differences, I believe the two versions of the text
are semantically equivalent.
The one in the patch was submitted by Clemens Ladisch in the original opl4
driver submission. I haven't
done an exact count yet, but I believe this variant of the wording is used in
more places than other
variants in the kernel. My preference is to use the wording variant that was
most commonly used
by kernel contributors, so that the kernel's LICENSE file matches the most
places where the license
text was replaced with an SPDX-License-Identifier line.
I've been trying to avoid having to make a kernel LICENSE file for every minor
variant of otherwise
semantically the same license text. I believe dealing with this plethora of
license variants is one reason the
SPDX work stalled out previously.
Let me know if you think the text in the kernel's License file (for a given
license) must be an exact match
for the spdx web site text for the license. A separate question is whether
it's appropriate to use the same
SPDX ID for variations on the same license text. I believe it is, in this
case, but I'm open to hearing
other opinions.
-- Tim
