[Bug-gnulib] Fwd: missing licenses in gnulib

[Robert Millan]

This message was lost due to MTA problems, so I'm forwarding it.

On Wed, Sep 22, 2004 at 03:58:24PM +0200, Robert Millan wrote:
> 
> [ putting debian-legal on CC ]
> 
> Hi!
> 
> I'm trying to prepare a Debian package of gnulib, but there seems to be some
> legal problems we should sort out first.
> 
> According to the COPYING file, we can't assume GPL for any of the files in
> the source tree.  This is a problem for files that are not explicitly 
> licensed.
> I've made an exhaustive list in the "lib" and "tests" directories:
> 
>   lib/alloca.c
>   lib/atanl.c
>   lib/diacrit.c
>   lib/dirfd.h
>   lib/getpagesize.h
>   lib/lbrkprop.h
>   lib/logl.c
>   tests/test-stpncpy.c
> 
> The legal status of these is questionable and in some cases they're being
> distributed illegaly (since copyright holder is not FSF).  I have omitted
> from the check those files that were <15 lines in size since these could be
> considered not significant for copyright purposes.
> 
> The worst problem, however, is in the "m4" and "modules" directories, where
> most of the files are unlicensed.  Typicaly, these macros would be implicitly
> licensed by a COPYING file, but there's no COPYING file covering them.  This
> situation makes it illegal to use most of gnulib's macros in any program (even
> GPLed ones).
> 
> There's also the problem with non-free documentation in "doc" directory (3
> files), but I'm aware that for the FSF freedom isn't important for
> documentation so I'm ommiting the list here.
> 
> -- 
>  .''`.   Proudly running Debian GNU/kFreeBSD unstable/unreleased (on UFS2+S)
> : :' :
> `. `'    http://www.debian.org/ports/kfreebsd-gnu
>   `-
> 
> 
> -- 
> To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to address@hidden
> with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact address@hidden
> 

-- 
 .''`.   Proudly running Debian GNU/kFreeBSD unstable/unreleased (on UFS2+S)
: :' :
`. `'    http://www.debian.org/ports/kfreebsd-gnu
  `-