On Fri, Aug 14, 2020 at 07:56:25AM -0700, Dave Hansen wrote: > > From: Dave Hansen <dave.hansen@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> > > Greg has challenged some recent driver submitters on their license > choices. He was correct to do so, as the choices in these instances > did not always advance the aims of the submitters. > > But, this left submitters (and the folks who help them pick licenses) > a bit confused. They have read things like > Documentation/process/license-rules.rst which says: > > individual source files can have a different license > which is required to be compatible with the GPL-2.0 > > and Documentation/process/submitting-drivers.rst: > > We don't insist on any kind of exclusive GPL licensing, > and if you wish ... you may well wish to release under > multiple licenses. > > As written, these appear a _bit_ more laissez faire than we've been in > practice lately. It sounds like we at least expect submitters to make > a well-reasoned license choice and to explain their rationale. It does > not appear that we blindly accept anything that is simply > GPLv2-compatible. > > Drivers appear to be the most acute source of misunderstanding, so fix > the driver documentation first. Update it to clarify expectations. > > Signed-off-by: Dave Hansen <dave.hansen@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> > Cc: Dan Williams <dan.j.williams@xxxxxxxxx> > Cc: H. Peter Anvin <h.peter.anvin@xxxxxxxxx> > Cc: Thomas Gleixner <tglx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> > Cc: Greg Kroah-Hartman <gregkh@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> > Cc: Jonathan Corbet <corbet@xxxxxxx> > Cc: linux-spdx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx > Cc: linux-doc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx > Cc: linux-kernel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx > > -- > > Changes from v1: > * Remove mention of maintainers enforcing particular license > choices. > * Change the wording to ensure that folks understand that the > trigger that requires an explanation is not multiple > licenses per se, but non-GPL licenses. You could argue that > GPLv2-or-later is multiple liceses, for instance. > --- > > b/Documentation/process/submitting-drivers.rst | 9 +++++---- > 1 file changed, 5 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-) > > diff -puN Documentation/process/submitting-drivers.rst~clarify-dual-licensing Documentation/process/submitting-drivers.rst > --- a/Documentation/process/submitting-drivers.rst~clarify-dual-licensing 2020-08-14 07:42:06.300480229 -0700 > +++ b/Documentation/process/submitting-drivers.rst 2020-08-14 07:53:10.373478573 -0700 > @@ -60,10 +60,11 @@ What Criteria Determine Acceptance > > Licensing: > The code must be released to us under the > - GNU General Public License. We don't insist on any kind > - of exclusive GPL licensing, and if you wish the driver > - to be useful to other communities such as BSD you may well > - wish to release under multiple licenses. > + GNU General Public License. If you wish the driver to be > + useful to other communities such as BSD you may release > + under multiple licenses. If you choose to release under > + licenses other than the GPL, you should include your > + rationale for your license choices in your cover letter. > See accepted licenses at include/linux/module.h > > Copyright: > _ Looks good, thanks for the modifications: Reviewed-by: Greg Kroah-Hartman <gregkh@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
