Today, FESCo ratified a new policy for handling the License tag inside of package spec files. You can read the new Licensing Guidelines here: http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Packaging/LicensingGuidelines What does this mean for Fedora package maintainers? It means that you're going to need to do a little bit of work. We want F8 packages to have the correct license tag before we release F8. Some questions (with answers): Q. Where is the list of approved licenses? A. It can be found here: http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Licensing Q. One of my packages uses a license which is not listed, what should I do? A. Email the details, along with a copy of the license, to tcallawa@xxxxxxxxxx Q. One of my packages uses a license which is listed as "bad", what should I do? A. Either remove the bits which are under the "bad" license, or remove the package from Fedora. If you're not sure what to do, you can email tcallawa@xxxxxxxxxx, and I'll help. Q. My package is under the GPL/LGPL, do I really need to change it to note the version? A. Yes. This is very important, and will greatly assist us in tracking GPL license interoperability and interlinking conflicts. Q. How should I know if my package is using an "or later version" license clause? A. Some licenses (GPL, LGPL especially) can include an "or any later version" clause. This clause isn't invoked in the license text (at least, not for the GPL/LGPL), but rather, in the source code or corresponding documentation. Look in the source code and see if there is any reference to "any later version". The GPL sample text looks like this: This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version. The GPL/LGPL "or any later version" clause is _only_ activated when upstream puts it in the source code or attached documentation, so if you can't find it outside of COPYING, it doesn't apply. If you do find it, you make sure the License identifier ends with a +. Q. Why can't I use "Distributable"/"BSD-ish"? A. Its far too vague. We need the specific information to help us perform faster license audits and legal compatibility checks. Q. Do I need to rebuild the package when I make the license tag change? A. In the development branch, yes, please. We're not requiring that you rebuild older branches, but please at least commit the fixed license tag to CVS for all branches, so that it gets picked up on the next update. Q. I want to help you handle Fedora Licensing, spot! A. Are you sure? Its a rather thankless job, you have to tell people that things can't go in Fedora. But if you're interested in helping out, drop me an email. Q. I have a question that you've not covered here, what should I do? A. Ask it. I'll try to answer it. :) ~spot _______________________________________________ Fedora-devel-announce mailing list Fedora-devel-announce@xxxxxxxxxx https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/fedora-devel-announce -- fedora-devel-list mailing list fedora-devel-list@xxxxxxxxxx https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/fedora-devel-list
