Steve Langasek <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > tags 460232 confirmed > thanks > > Thanks for bringing this to my attention. > > On Fri, Jan 11, 2008 at 01:31:12PM +0100, Simon Josefsson wrote: >> Hi! The copyright file contains: > >> ALTERNATIVELY, this product may be distributed under the terms of the >> GNU General Public License, in which case the provisions of the GNU >> GPL are required INSTEAD OF the above restrictions. (This clause is >> necessary due to a potential conflict between the GNU GPL and the >> restrictions contained in a BSD-style copyright.) > >> ... > >> On Debian GNU/Linux systems, the complete text of the GNU General >> Public License can be found in `/usr/share/common-licenses/GPL'. > >> Which version of the GPL does this refer to? The file in >> common-licenses is now actually GPLv3, but I suspect that Linux-PAM >> intended to use GPLv2 or GPLv1 here. In any case, I think the license >> of the package isn't clear. > >> I looked in upstream sources, but couldn't find a copy of the GPL at >> all, so this problem may be due to upstream. Still, it would be good to >> fix it. > > > The only version of the GPL that was current at the time Linux-PAM became > available was GPLv2, so this is the only reasonable reading of this license. > I could try to clarify with upstream whether they would like PAM to be > available under GPLv3, but this code has had a fair number of contributors > over its 10+-year history, so getting the code fully relicensed would take a > fair amount of effort. > > In the meantime I'll fix this to point at GPLv2 only.
Thanks. I would agree that this is the most likely interpretation. Maybe reporting this to upstream makes them do the same change in their documentation too. Btw, this situation came up when we wanted to release a new PAM module under the same license as Linux-PAM upstream. Their license wasn't clear, so I started looking at Debian's copyright file. I suspect other PAM module writers may have run into the same problem. Regards, Simon -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
