license notices for README, INSTALL, NEW etc.

license notices for README, INSTALL, NEW etc.

[Yoni Rabkin]

Hello,

I volunteer for the GPL Compliance Lab
[http://www.fsf.org/licensing/index_html]. A recent email we received
was from someone who wants to use the information in the NEWS files of
GNU packages such as Emacs under the terms of the GFDL, but couldn't
because GNU/Emacs is packaged with all of those files licensed under the
terms of the GNU GPL.

The GNU maintainers manual suggests using a permissive license for those
files
[http://www.gnu.org/prep/maintain/maintain.html#License-Notices-for-Other-Files]
(A copy of the text from the above link is included below for
convenience).

Unless there is some reason GNU/Emacs should be distributed differently
from other GNU packages, I don't mind preparing and sending-in a patch
to modify the license notices.

EXCERPT FROM GNU MAINTAINERS MANUAL:

"
4.6.4 License Notices for Other Files

Small supporting files, short manuals (under 300 lines long) and rough
documentation (README files, INSTALL files, etc.) can use a simple
all-permissive license like this one:

     Copying and distribution of this file, with or without
     modification, are permitted in any medium without royalty provided
     the copyright notice and this notice are preserved.  This file is
     offered as-is, without any warranty.

Older versions of this license did not have the second sentence with the
express warranty disclaimer. There is no urgent need to update existing
files, but new files should use the new text.

If your package distributes Autoconf macros that are intended to be used
(hence distributed) by third-party packages under possibly incompatible
licenses, you may also use the above all-permissive license for these
macros.

"

-- 
   "Cut your own wood and it will warm you twice"

Re: license notices for README, INSTALL, NEW etc.

[Chong Yidong]

Yoni Rabkin <yoni@rabkins.net> writes:

> I volunteer for the GPL Compliance Lab
> [http://www.fsf.org/licensing/index_html]. A recent email we received
> was from someone who wants to use the information in the NEWS files of
> GNU packages such as Emacs under the terms of the GFDL, but couldn't
> because GNU/Emacs is packaged with all of those files licensed under the
> terms of the GNU GPL.
>
> The GNU maintainers manual suggests using a permissive license for those
> files
> [http://www.gnu.org/prep/maintain/maintain.html#License-Notices-for-Other-Files]
> (A copy of the text from the above link is included below for
> convenience).
>
> Unless there is some reason GNU/Emacs should be distributed differently
> from other GNU packages, I don't mind preparing and sending-in a patch
> to modify the license notices.

Sounds fine to me.  Can you speak for the FSF?

Re: license notices for README, INSTALL, NEW etc.

[Richard Stallman]

We sometimes put extensive documentation of new features in the NEWS
file.  So rather than put NEWS under a permissive license, my decision
is to release the NEWS file under the GFDL and GPL in parallel.