Re: GPL violation in shadow? (was: Re: Bug#244297: Still in license violation. (was: Re: Bug#244297 acknowledged by developer (Bug#244297: fixed in shadow 1:4.0.3-29)))
* Robert Millan (zeratul2@wanadoo.es) [040704 00:10]:
> This seems like a GPL violation. The debian version of "shadow" package
> includes GPLed code from GNU su. This is allowed since shadow's license is
> 3-clausse BSD (GPL-compatible) but it looks to me that we aren't complying
> with Section 2 of the GPL which requires that the whole modified work is
> relicensed.
I disagree. Section 2 just requires that the whole work can be
redistributed under no more restrictive conditions than those of the
GPL. The 3-clausse BSD allows this (that is exactly what the term
"GPL-compatible" means). And, of course, the parts taken from su are
still licensed under the GPL.
> Please could you have a look at the license references in package shadow
> (version 4.0.3-29)? I believe [shadow]/src/su.c and [shadow]/debian/copyright
> indicate that the GPL terms only apply to the parts that were originaly GPL
> and not the whole work.
As 3-clause-BSD is GPL-compatible, you can redistribute the whole work
under the conditions of the GPL. However, there are identifiable
sections that can distributed under an even more permissive license.
Cheers,
Andi
--
http://home.arcor.de/andreas-barth/
PGP 1024/89FB5CE5 DC F1 85 6D A6 45 9C 0F 3B BE F1 D0 C5 D1 D9 0C
Reply to: