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authorP. J. McDermott <pjm@nac.net>2012-06-17 14:28:16 (EDT)
committer P. J. McDermott <pjm@nac.net>2012-06-17 14:28:16 (EDT)
commit724a16634aaeec98a7f7dd84ff33f2f7cd89f52c (patch)
treec46d9dfb03950c459f55f483340e5acdb40ce2aa
parent4c1b13d04985ad5d218690741ec8019f83b99386 (diff)
Rewrite "Legal Terms" chapter.
The following packages may now be distributed pursuant to this (not yet binding) policy: * alsa-lib * eglibc * gettext * glib * ncurses * zlib
-rw-r--r--policies/inclusion/legal.mdwn160
1 files changed, 147 insertions, 13 deletions
diff --git a/policies/inclusion/legal.mdwn b/policies/inclusion/legal.mdwn
index 7136d36..5c5e08d 100644
--- a/policies/inclusion/legal.mdwn
+++ b/policies/inclusion/legal.mdwn
@@ -1,21 +1,155 @@
Title: Legal Terms
-Copyright
-=========
+Copyrights and Licensing
+========================
To be included in this distribution, a software package must either be free of
-any copyright interests or be accompanied by a copyright license. If
-accompanied by a license, the license must meet the following conditions:
+any copyright interests (i.e. exist in the "public domain") or be accompanied by
+one or more copyright licenses. If accompanied by one license, the license must
+be a free license. If accompanied by multiple disjunctive licenses, at least
+one of the licenses must be free (the package will then be included under the
+terms of one of the free licenses).
- * It must be a "free software license" as classified on the [list of
- licenses published by Free Software Foundation, Inc.][fsl]
- * It must be an "open source license" found on the [Open Source Initiative's
- list of approved licenses][osl].
- * It must be a "free culture license" found on the [list of licenses that meet
- the Definition of Free Cultural Works][fcl].
+A "free" license is one that is classified as free by at least one of the
+following resources and is not classified as non-free by any of the following
+resources:
+ * [Free Software Foundation, Inc.'s License List][]
+ * [List of Licenses Approved by the Fedora Project][]
+ * [List of Licenses Approved by the Open Source Initiative][]
+ * [List of Licenses that Meet the Debian Free Software Guidelines][]
+ * [List of Licenses that Meet the Definition of Free Cultural Works][]
-[fsl]: https://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-list.html
-[osl]: http://www.opensource.org/licenses/alphabetical
-[fcl]: http://freedomdefined.org/Licenses#List_of_licenses
+These resources and their license classifications are described under [License
+Classification Resources][].
+
+Examples
+--------
+
+Version 1.0 of the Artistic License is listed as a license that meets the Debian
+Free Software Guidelines. However, Free Software Foundation, Inc. lists the
+license as non-free. At least one resource lists it as non-free, so -- even
+though at least one resource lists it as free -- Artistic License version 1.0 is
+considered non-free according to this policy.
+
+The Free Art License is categorized as free on Free Software Foundation, Inc.'s
+license list and the list of licenses that meet the Definition of Free Cultural
+Works. However, the Debian Project has identified multiple potential problems
+in the interpretation of the license terms and lists the license as one "whose
+status is unsettled", which for the purposes of this policy makes the license
+non-free according to this resource. Again, at least one resource lists it as
+non-free, so the Free Art License is considered non-free according to this
+policy.
+
+
+License Classification Resources
+================================
+
+Free Software Foundation, Inc.'s License List
+---------------------------------------------
+
+Free Software Foundation, Inc. (FSF) is a non-profit organization incorporated
+in the United States of America. The FSF has published a document titled
+"[Various Licenses and Comments about Them][fsfll]" that lists copyright
+licenses in various categories.
+
+For the purposes of this policy, licenses listed in the referenced document
+under the following categories are considered free by this resource:
+
+ * GPL-Compatible Free Software Licenses
+ * GPL-Incompatible Free Software Licenses
+ * Free Documentation Licenses
+ * Licenses for Works of Practical Use Besides Software and Documentation
+
+For the purposes of this policy, licenses listed in the referenced document
+under the following categories are considered non-free by this resource:
+
+ * Nonfree Software Licenses
+ * Nonfree Documentation Licenses
+ * Licenses for Works of Opinion and Judgment
+
+List of Licenses Approved by the Fedora Project
+-----------------------------------------------
+
+The Fedora Project is the community that develops the Fedora GNU/Linux
+distribution, sponsored by Red Hat, Inc. The Fedora Project maintains a
+[list of acceptable licenses][fpll] under which software may be included in
+Fedora.
+
+For the purposes of this policy, licenses listed in the referenced document
+under the following categories are considered free by this resource:
+
+ * Software License List, Good Licenses
+ * Documentation Licenses, Good Licenses
+ * Content Licenses, Good Licenses
+ * Font Licenses, Good Licenses
+
+For the purposes of this policy, licenses listed in the referenced document
+under the following categories are considered non-free by this resource:
+
+ * Software License List, Bad Licenses
+ * Software License List, Unknown Licenses
+ * Documentation Licenses, Bad Licenses
+ * Content Licenses, Bad Licenses
+ * Font Licenses, Bad Licenses
+
+List of Licenses Approved by the Open Source Initiative
+-------------------------------------------------------
+
+The Open Source Initiative (OSI) is a non-profit organization incoroporated in
+the United States of America. The OSI has published the Open Source Definition,
+a set of criteria that qualify software packages as "open source". The OSI
+maintains a [list of licenses that it has approved][osial] for the "open source"
+label via its License Review Process.
+
+For the purposes of this policy, all licenses listed in the referenced document
+are considered free by this resource.
+
+List of Licenses that Meet the Debian Free Software Guidelines
+--------------------------------------------------------------
+
+The Debian Project is the community that develops the Debian GNU/Linux
+distribution, sponsored by Software in the Public Interest, Inc. (SPI). The
+Debian Project ratified the Debian Social Contract, including the Debian Free
+Software Guidelines, a set of requirements for software packages to be included
+as official parts of Debian. The Debian Project maintains a [list of licenses
+that meet the Debian Free Software Guidelines][dfgsl].
+
+For the purposes of this policy, licenses listed in the referenced document
+under the following categories are considered free by this resource:
+
+ * The Big DFSG-compatible Licenses
+
+For the purposes of this policy, licenses listed in the referenced document
+under the following categories are considered non-free by this resource:
+
+ * Licenses whose status is unsettled
+ * Licenses that are DFSG-incompatible
+
+For the avoidance of doubt, the GNU Free Documentation License is considered
+free by this resource when it is applied with no invariant sections.
+
+List of Licenses that Meet the Definition of Free Cultural Works
+----------------------------------------------------------------
+
+The Definition of Free Cultural Works was initiated by Erik Möller and
+co-initiated by Benjamin Mako Hill. Along with the definition itself is
+published a [list of licenses that meet the definition][dfcwl].
+
+For the purposes of this policy, all licenses listed in the referenced document
+are considered free by this resource.
+
+[fsfll]: https://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-list.html
+[fpll]: https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Licensing
+[osial]: http://www.opensource.org/licenses/alphabetical
+[dfsgl]: http://wiki.debian.org/DFSGLicenses
+[dfcwl]: http://freedomdefined.org/Licenses#List_of_licenses
+
+<!-- Warning: pseudoperl ahead
+sub is_free
+{
+ return ((free(fsfll) or free(osial) or free(dfsgl) or free(dfcwl)) and not
+ (nonfree(fsfll) or nonfree(osial) or nonfree(dfsgl) or nonfree(dfcwl)));
+}
+-->