Bug#956140: xtail: wrong licensing for packaging
Package: xtail
Version: 2.1-6
Severity: normal
The original packaging (2001) used BSD as licensing for xtail[1] (for upstream
source code). Before 1.0 format[2], when a packaging licensing was not declared,
the same license for the upstream was considered for packaging.
[1] https://salsa.debian.org/debian/xtail/-/commit/957108b1ffab7b61f53adde13d7d5a8caec036ba
[2] https://www.debian.org/doc/packaging-manuals/copyright-format/1.0/
In 2.1-6 revision the upstream changed the licensing to a public domain like
(Unlicense[3][4]). This change was applied in 2.1-6 revision (all right) but the
packaging license was also changed, now for GPL-2+[3] without any asking for
permission for previous holders (Roderick Schertler and Joao Eriberto Mota
Filho). Other consideration is that GPL-2+ is incompatible with the upstream
licensing (BSD and public domain).
[3] https://salsa.debian.org/debian/xtail/-/commit/8f5f4a547ba413bb3fdc8bc9d028c652a9ee3708
[4] https://www.unicom.com/sw/license
Conclusion: the packaging licensing should be reverted to BSD.
Regards,
Eriberto
Reply to: