On Sun, Oct 6, 2013 at 2:48 PM, Wolfgang Denk <w...@denx.de> wrote:
>
> The approach the U-Boot project has taken here attempts to support
> Strong Compliance while at the same time getting rid of redundant
> information to the extend possible:
>
> - The file "Licenses/README" contains the project-global license
> statement plus explanations how license tags are used in the
> individual files.
>
> - A file "Licenses/Exceptions" deals with special exceptions from the
> rule.
hi Wolfgang,
Correct me if I am wrong, but u-boot is not licensed under the GPLv2+,
but under the GPLv2+ with a special exception:
GPL License Exception:
Even though U-Boot in general is covered by the GPL-2.0/GPL-2.0+,
this does *not* cover the so-called "standalone" applications that
use U-Boot services by means of the jump table provided by U-Boot
exactly for this purpose - this is merely considered normal use of
U-Boot, and does *not* fall under the heading of "derived work".
The header files "include/image.h" and "arch/*/include/asm/u-boot.h"
define interfaces to U-Boot. Including these (unmodified) header
files in another file is considered normal use of U-Boot, and does
*not* fall under the heading of "derived work".
-- Wolfgang Denk
so the SPDX license identifier is incomplete for your particular intentions.
Interestingly, if I take a single file from u-boot and reuse it, the
exception will probably not be relevant.
Now, with regard to complex licensing, take for example the file:
./drivers/usb/gadget/f_mass_storage.c in U-boot.
If I understand correctly, this file is the same as
drivers/usb/gadget/f_mass_storage.c in the kernel (a typical case of
reuse).
This is its original license statement:
/*
2 * f_mass_storage.c -- Mass Storage USB Composite Function
3 *
4 * Copyright (C) 2003-2008 Alan Stern
5 * Copyright (C) 2009 Samsung Electronics
6 * Author: Michal Nazarewicz <min...@mina86.com>
7 * All rights reserved.
8 *
9 * Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
10 * modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
11 * are met:
12 * 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
13 * notice, this list of conditions, and the following disclaimer,
14 * without modification.
15 * 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
16 * notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
17 * documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
18 * 3. The names of the above-listed copyright holders may not be used
19 * to endorse or promote products derived from this software without
20 * specific prior written permission.
21 *
22 * ALTERNATIVELY, this software may be distributed under the terms of the
23 * GNU General Public License ("GPL") as published by the Free Software
24 * Foundation, either version 2 of that License or (at your option) any
25 * later version.
26 *
27 * THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS
28 * IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO,
29 * THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
30 * PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT OWNER OR
31 * CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL,
32 * EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO,
33 * PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR
34 * PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF
35 * LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING
36 * NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS
37 * SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
38 */
39
the file in u-boot replaces this notice with:
/*
* f_mass_storage.c -- Mass Storage USB Composite Function
*
* Copyright (C) 2003-2008 Alan Stern
* Copyright (C) 2009 Samsung Electronics
* Author: Michal Nazarewicz <m.nazarew...@samsung.com>
* All rights reserved.
*
* SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0+ BSD-3-Clause
*/
now, it is not clear the the license of the file is. For your purposes
(as a consumer of f_mass_storage.c) is probably enough.
But now it is not clear that the file can be used under either the
BSD-3 or the GPLv2+ if somebody cherry picks the file (as you did).
Note also that the license is not exactly spdx-BSD3 (it will not match
the guideliness of SPDX because of the extra clause). So in a way, the
SPDX license in this file is incorrect.
that is fundamentally the problem of trying to be too aggressive with
decoding and translating the license statements of files.
For the ones that you have created (lots in U-boot) you can easily
state your license statement.
For the ones that are not author by you, you are making a licensing
analysis and conclusion before you can use
an SPDX identifier.
--dmg
--
--dmg
---
Daniel M. German
http://turingmachine.org
_______________________________________________
Spdx-tech mailing list
Spdx-tech@lists.spdx.org
https://lists.spdx.org/mailman/listinfo/spdx-tech
