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debian/* license of non-free packages



Hello to all,

Recently I was trying to convert the debian/copyright file of a
non-free package ( unrar-nonfree ) to 1.0 format.
The main license of this software is non-free (mainly because it does
not allow reverse engineering of the RAR algorithm) but it also
includes parts of software distributed under other licenses
(BSD/public domain/GPL/etc).

My problem was when I had to specify a license for the debian/* files.
I contacted the people that own the copyright of those files proposing
a default license of GPL2+ (no strong feelings about that, just a
suggestion).
I was told that debian/copyright contains the text of the original
non-free license, so debian/* cannot be distributed under GPL.

My main question is what kind of license should I specify in
debian/copyright for debian/* ?
If we assume that the packagers who have worked on this package during
its lifetime can agree to a license for the packaging part, what are
the constraints?

Thank you very much,


PS: Please, CC my email in your replies

Nick


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