[Date Prev][Date Next] [Thread Prev][Thread Next] [Date Index] [Thread Index]

FYI: Adding BSD license to the debconf specification



The debconf specification document included in Policy had only the
following in its <legalinfo> section:

    This text is copyright by the authors under the terms of the BSD
    license, sans advertising clause.

While that's relatively unambiguous, it doesn't match the terms of the BSD
license (which require including a copy of the license), and it's poor
form from a legal standpoint to not include the actual text of the
license.  We added the text to debian/copyright, but it seems like it
should be in the document proper.

I've therefore applied the following patch to add the license (and took
the liberty of changing "SOFTWARE" to "MANUAL" in the warranty disclaimer
to be clearer about what's being designated, and since those sorts of
minor adaptations are very common in the BSD license -- see the existing
use of "Debian Project" in point three).

diff --git a/debconf_spec/debconf_specification.xml b/debconf_spec/debconf_specification.xml
index d7f3869..933dd11 100644
--- a/debconf_spec/debconf_specification.xml
+++ b/debconf_spec/debconf_specification.xml
@@ -50,8 +50,47 @@
         notices for subsequent work exists.
       </para>
       <para>
-        This text is copyright by the authors under the terms of the
-	BSD license, sans advertising clause.
+        Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
+        modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
+        are met:
+      </para>
+      <orderedlist numeration="arabic">
+        <listitem>
+          <para>
+            Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
+            notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
+          </para>
+        </listitem>
+        <listitem>
+          <para>
+            Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above
+            copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following
+            disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials
+            provided with the distribution.
+          </para>
+        </listitem>
+        <listitem>
+          <para>
+            Neither the name of the Debian Project nor the names of its
+            contributors may be used to endorse or promote products
+            derived from this software without specific prior written
+            permission.
+          </para>
+        </listitem>
+      </orderedlist>
+      <para>
+        THIS MANUAL IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS
+        "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT
+        LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS
+        FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
+        COPYRIGHT HOLDER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT,
+        INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES
+        (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR
+        SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION)
+        HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN
+        CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR
+        OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE,
+        EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
       </para>
     </legalnotice>
   </articleinfo>
diff --git a/debian/copyright b/debian/copyright
index bf545bf..c836a2c 100644
--- a/debian/copyright
+++ b/debian/copyright
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ License: BSD-3-clause
      contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived from
      this software without specific prior written permission.
  .
- THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS
+ THIS MANUAL IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS
  IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO,
  THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
  PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER OR

-- 
Russ Allbery (rra@debian.org)               <http://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/>


Reply to: