License and copyright in description
Section 2.3.3 of policy says copyright information should not appear in
descriptions.
# 2.3.3. The description of a package
# -----------------------------------
#
# Every Debian package must have an extended description stored in the
# appropriate field of the control record.
#
# The description should be written so that it gives the system
# administrator enough information to decide whether to install the
# package. This description should not just be copied verbatim from the
# program's documentation. Instructions for configuring or using the
# package should not be included (that is what installation scripts,
# manual pages, info files, etc., are for). Copyright statements and
# other administrivia should not be included either (that is what the
# copyright file is for).
Yet many packages do include copyright or licensing information in their
descriptions:
$ egrep -ci '(GPL|licen[sc]e|copyright|freely.*distribut|patent)' /var/lib/dpkg/
available
226
$
The description for lsh-utils begins:
Description: A Secure Shell v2 (SSH2) protocol implementation -- server
lsh is GNU GPL'd implementation of the Secure Shell
protocol version 2 (SSH2). The SSH (Secure SHell) protocol
is a secure replacement for rlogin, rsh and rcp.
The package description refers to the fact that it is licensed under the
terms of the GPL because licensing is an important aspect of the package.
Which should I file bugs against, packages referring to copyright or license,
or should I file a bug against policy?
--
Don't worry -- shop.
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