Re: Remove license modules

[Bruno Haible]

Hi Asher,

> I think the Texinfo format licenses are human readable
> enough that it is sufficient to just include those.

This is a hairy question. I don't know whether a judge will be convinced
by the presence of a Texinfo formatted license, when no plain-text
and no PDF version of the license is present - because most judges
don't know how to read a Texinfo file (if they know the concept of a
markup language at all). But anyway, I'll leave that question to others...

I'm going to document existing practice only. I've looked how GNU emacs
and GNU gettext do it; the approaches coincide.

Also, a plain-text license file is often present in the top-level directory
of the VCS because the hoster (Savannah, Gitlab, Github, etc.) requires or
suggests it.

> Well I didn't include the GFDL in plain text format in my package. I
> only included it in Texinfo format, but Ineiev accepted my package
> nevertheless.

Oh, indeed the GFDL is being handled differently than the GPL and LGPL.

Patch below.

> I also fixed a minor issue where "VCS" ended with
> "." rather than "@." (see (texinfo) Ending a Sentence).

I won't spend time on a single instance of this very minor issue. But if
you want to submit a patch that fixes all instances of this issue, I'll
appreciate it.


2020-05-17  Bruno Haible  <address@hidden>

        Clarify intended usage of the license file modules.
        Reported by Asher Gordon <address@hidden> in
        <https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-gnulib/2020-05/msg00126.html>.
        * doc/licenses-texi.texi (License Texinfo sources): Mention the
        GNU AGPL. Explain the intended usage of the modules.
        * modules/fdl (Notice): Discourage use as a module.
        * modules/fdl-1.3 (Notice): Likewise.

diff --git a/doc/licenses-texi.texi b/doc/licenses-texi.texi
index 60110ef..d226bc8 100644
--- a/doc/licenses-texi.texi
+++ b/doc/licenses-texi.texi
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 @node License Texinfo sources
 @section License Texinfo sources
 
-Gnulib provides copies of the GNU GPL, GNU LGPL, and GNU FDL licenses
-in Texinfo form.  (The master location is
+Gnulib provides copies of the GNU GPL, GNU LGPL, GNU Affero GPL, and
+GNU FDL licenses in Texinfo form.  (The master location is
 @url{https://www.gnu.org/licenses/}).  These Texinfo documents do not
 have any node names and structures built into them; for your manual,
 you should @code{@@include} them in an appropriate @code{@@node}.
@@ -12,3 +12,33 @@ The conventional name for the GPL node is @samp{Copying} and 
for the FDL
 a conventional node name.
 
 Of course the license texts themselves should not be changed at all.
+
+The recommended way to make use of these license files, consistently
+with current practice, is as follows:
+@itemize
+@item
+The code license (GNU GPL, GNU LGPL, or GNU Affero GPL) is usually
+present as a file in the top-level directory.  This is true not only for
+the release tarballs, but also in the VCS repository.  The file is
+typically named @samp{COPYING} for the GNU GPL, or @samp{COPYING.LIB} or
+@samp{COPYING.LESSER} for the GNU LGPL.  The presence of this file
+fulfills a legal obligation; see
+@url{https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#WhyMustIInclude}.
+
+To make use of the code license in your documentation, you may request
+one of the modules @code{gpl-3.0}, @code{gpl-2.0}, @code{lgpl-3.0},
+@code{lgpl-2.1}, @code{agpl-3.0}, through a @code{gnulib-tool} invocation.
+Or you may copy the relevant Texinfo file directly into your VCS repository.
+Both approaches are equally good.  The Texinfo file changes very rarely.
+@item
+The documentation license file (GNU FDL) is usually not present as a
+file in the top-level directory, because that would be ambiguous: When
+you use the GNU FDL, you need to specify the Invariant Sections, the
+Front-Cover Texts, and the Back-Cover Texts.
+
+To make use of this documentation license, copy the relevant Texinfo
+file into your VCS repository.  This makes sure that anyone who receives
+a copy of your VCS repository has also received a copy of the
+documentation license.  In the documentation, also state what are the
+Invariant Sections, the Front-Cover Texts, and the Back-Cover Texts.
+@end itemize
diff --git a/modules/fdl b/modules/fdl
index 6d6f859..251939a 100644
--- a/modules/fdl
+++ b/modules/fdl
@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
 Description:
 Provide the GNU Free Documentation License in Texinfo format.
 
+Notice:
+Don't use this module! Instead, copy the referenced license file into your 
version control repository.
+
 Files:
 doc/fdl.texi
 
diff --git a/modules/fdl-1.3 b/modules/fdl-1.3
index c4d1dd6..760a707 100644
--- a/modules/fdl-1.3
+++ b/modules/fdl-1.3
@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
 Description:
 Provide the GNU Free Documentation License version 1.3 in Texinfo format.
 
+Notice:
+Don't use this module! Instead, copy the referenced license file into your 
version control repository.
+
 Files:
 doc/fdl-1.3.texi