bug#16250: Feature request: package license information and home page

bug#16250: Feature request: package license information and home page

[Dave Abrahams]

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There should be an easy way to find out the
license information and other metadata about a package before installing
it.  Ideally this information should show up in the results of
package-menu-describe-package

Thanks for entertaining my request,

-- 
Dave Abrahams

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bug#16250: Feature request: package license information and home page

[Stefan Monnier]

> There should be an easy way to find out the license information and

Why?

> other metadata about a package before installing it.

Which other metadata?


        Stefan

bug#16250: Feature request: package license information and home page

[Dave Abrahams]

Sent from my moss-covered three-handled family gradunza

On Dec 25, 2013, at 8:56 AM, Stefan Monnier <monnier@IRO.UMontreal.CA> wrote:

>> There should be an easy way to find out the license information and
> 
> Why?

Some people (like me) are picky about the license terms of software that they download, especially in source form. 

>> other metadata about a package before installing it.
> 
> Which other metadata?

For example, a package's home page, author, maybe date of last update, etc. 

bug#16250: Feature request: package license information and home page

[Stefan Monnier]

>>> There should be an easy way to find out the license information and
>> Why?
> Some people (like me) are picky about the license terms of software that
> they download, especially in source form.

Give me some examples of Elisp packages where that would be useful.

>>> other metadata about a package before installing it.
>> Which other metadata?
> For example, a package's home page, author, maybe date of last update, etc.

The home page is already available, AFAIK.  Author/maintainer could
be provided.  Date of last update is generally not kept (tho in
elpa.gnu.org/packages you can indeed see it, tho it's really the date
at which the tarball was created).

I think the better option is to let the user separate the "download" and
"install" steps so she can look at those extra info before installing.


        Stefan

bug#16250: Feature request: package license information and home page

[Dave Abrahams]

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On Thu, Dec 26, 2013 at 4:46 AM, Stefan Monnier <monnier@iro.umontreal.ca>wrote:

> >>> There should be an easy way to find out the license information and
> >> Why?
> > Some people (like me) are picky about the license terms of software that
> > they download, especially in source form.
>
> Give me some examples of Elisp packages where that would be useful.
>

Any package is a potential example.  I’m not sure what you’re looking for
here, and I don’t suppose you want an arbitrary list of the first 50
packages listed at MELPA.  If you could explain what you’re after maybe I
could say something useful.


> >>> other metadata about a package before installing it.
> >> Which other metadata?
> > For example, a package's home page, author, maybe date of last update,
> etc.
>
> The home page is already available, AFAIK.  Author/maintainer could
> be provided.  Date of last update is generally not kept (tho in
> elpa.gnu.org/packages you can indeed see it, tho it's really the date
> at which the tarball was created).
>
> I think the better option is to let the user separate the "download" and
> "install" steps so she can look at those extra info before installing.


That won’t help people whose employers have specific rules restricting the
license terms of code that may be *downloaded to the employers’ machines*
without prior approval.

-- 
Dave Abrahams

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bug#16250: Feature request: package license information and home page

[Stefan Monnier]

>> > Some people (like me) are picky about the license terms of software that
>> > they download, especially in source form.
>> Give me some examples of Elisp packages where that would be useful.
> Any package is a potential example.

99.9% of Elisp packages are licensed under the GPL.  I doubt these would
be convincing examples of the need to check the licensing info.
And the remaining 0.1% is licensed under a GPL-compatible license, BTW
(because any Elisp package necessarily links to GPL'd code, either
Emacs's or XEmacs's, so it's basically illegal to distribute Elisp code
under anything else than a GPL-compatible license).

> If you could explain what you’re after maybe I could say
> something useful.

An example package where it can be useful to know what license is used.


        Stefan

bug#16250: Feature request: package license information and home page

[Stefan Kangas]

tags 16250 + wontfix
close 16250
thanks

Dave Abrahams <dave@boostpro.com> writes:

> There should be an easy way to find out the
> license information and other metadata about a package before installing
> it.  Ideally this information should show up in the results of
> package-menu-describe-package

Stefan Monnier <monnier@IRO.UMontreal.CA> writes:

>>> > Some people (like me) are picky about the license terms of software that
>>> > they download, especially in source form.
>>> Give me some examples of Elisp packages where that would be useful.
>> Any package is a potential example.
>
> 99.9% of Elisp packages are licensed under the GPL.  I doubt these would
> be convincing examples of the need to check the licensing info.
> And the remaining 0.1% is licensed under a GPL-compatible license, BTW
> (because any Elisp package necessarily links to GPL'd code, either
> Emacs's or XEmacs's, so it's basically illegal to distribute Elisp code
> under anything else than a GPL-compatible license).
>
>> If you could explain what you’re after maybe I could say
>> something useful.
>
> An example package where it can be useful to know what license is used.

That was in 2013, and I agree with Stefan that this feature doesn't sound worth
it.  It's all GPL compatible.  FWIW, Debian doesn't show this in aptitude
either.

The homepage is already available in package-menu-describe-package.

I've therefore closed this as wontfix.  If anyone disagrees, feel free
to re-open.

Best regards,
Stefan Kangas