Bug#462996: About FTP Masters requirements for Debian copyright files.
Dear FTP Masters,
CC debian-project@lists.debian.org, as it may be of general interest,
CC 462996@bugs.debian.org as it asks a related question,
there is an ongoing discussion about what are the exact requirements for
documenting copyrights and licenses in Debian copyright files.
I would like to ask you the following question:
Do you require notices (also known as headers, boilerplates, exhibits, etc.) to be
reproduced verbatime in Debian copyright files ?
To my knowledge, the two most authoritative statements from your team are the
following:
1) http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/2006/03/msg00023.html
- Its not enough to have the following two-liner:
| On Debian systems, the complete text of the GNU General Public License
| can be found in the `/usr/share/common-licenses/GPL' file.
There are license headers, like the one used for GPL in the example below, you
should use those.
2) http://ftp-master.debian.org/REJECT-FAQ.html
You need to list all copyright information with all licenses in the
copyright file itself. That one has to be the single point of information. Only
files you find in /usr/share/common-licenses have a special exception here,
everything else needs to be fully included!
Some licenses include a template for “notices” (GPL), “exhibits” (MPL), etc.,
also called “headers” or “boilerplates”. In some packages, works licensed
under the same terms, can be accompanied multiple notices that vary by using
different program names (GPL), or contributor names (MPL). Do you require them
to be reproduced verbatim, or is it acceptable to use a single replacement to
represent all of them? More in details, one of the questions was to know if
the reason for reproducing them is to include the disclaimer of warranty. Are
there are other reasons ?
Just in case, here are the example notice and exhibit from the GPL and MPL.
GPL-3 (where “This program” is often replaced by the program's name):
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 3 of the License, or
(at your option) any later version.
.
This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
GNU General Public License for more details.
.
You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
along with this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
MPL 1.1:
"The contents of this file are subject to the Mozilla Public License
Version 1.1 (the "License"); you may not use this file except in
compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at
http://www.mozilla.org/MPL/
.
Software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS"
basis, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the
License for the specific language governing rights and limitations
under the License.
.
The Original Code is ______________________________________.
.
The Initial Developer of the Original Code is ________________________.
Portions created by ______________________ are Copyright (C) ______
_______________________. All Rights Reserved.
.
Contributor(s): ______________________________________.
.
Alternatively, the contents of this file may be used under the terms
of the _____ license (the "[___] License"), in which case the
provisions of [______] License are applicable instead of those
above. If you wish to allow use of your version of this file only
under the terms of the [____] License and not to allow others to use
your version of this file under the MPL, indicate your decision by
deleting the provisions above and replace them with the notice and
other provisions required by the [___] License. If you do not delete
the provisions above, a recipient may use your version of this file
under either the MPL or the [___] License."
Have a nice day,
--
Charles Plessy
Tsurumi, Kanagawa, Japan
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