On Wed, Feb 18, 2026 at 12:48 PM Bird, Tim <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > -----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.
Based on your issue https://github.com/spdx/license-list-XML/issues/2939 I think you know this but for the sake of others: The issue is that from the SPDX standpoint, the identifiers are (somewhat) precisely defined. `BSD-Source-Code`, for example, is specified in the XML file I previously linked to. SPDX has a more informally defined notion of what it means for a real license text to "match" a given identifier, mostly discussed here: https://spdx.github.io/spdx-spec/v3.0.1/annexes/license-matching-guidelines-and-templates/ I'd suggest perhaps waiting for SPDX to resolve the open issue - you see that Steve Winslow seems inclined to add a new identifier for this variant. Richard
