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Diffstat (limited to 'doc/gnulib-intro.texi')
| -rw-r--r-- | doc/gnulib-intro.texi | 31 |
1 files changed, 19 insertions, 12 deletions
diff --git a/doc/gnulib-intro.texi b/doc/gnulib-intro.texi index 5890223fad..b88139a2b1 100644 --- a/doc/gnulib-intro.texi +++ b/doc/gnulib-intro.texi @@ -455,15 +455,22 @@ proofreading the patch. @section Copyright Most modules are under the GPL@. Some, mostly modules which can -reasonably be used in libraries, are under LGPL@. The source files -always say "GPL", but the real license specification is in the module -description file. If the module description file says "GPL", it means -"GPLv3+" (GPLv3 or newer, at the licensee's choice); if it says "LGPL", -it means "LGPLv3+" (LGPLv3 or newer, at the licensee's choice). +reasonably be used in libraries, are under LGPL@. Few modules are +under other licenses, such as LGPLv2+, unlimited, or public domain. -More precisely, the license specification in the module description -file applies to the files in @file{lib/} and @file{build-aux/}. Different -licenses apply to files in special directories: +If the module description file says "GPL", it means "GPLv3+" (GPLv3 +or newer, at the licensee's choice); if it says "LGPL", it means +"LGPLv3+" (LGPLv3 or newer, at the licensee's choice). + +The source files, more precisely the files in @file{lib/} and +@file{build-aux/}, are under a license compatible with the module's +license. Most often, they are under the same license. But files can be +shared among several modules, and in these cases it can happen that a +source file is under a weaker license than noted in the module +description --- namely under the weakest license among the licenses of +the modules that contain the file. + +Different licenses apply to files in special directories: @table @file @item modules/ @@ -506,16 +513,16 @@ copy of the license is at @url{https://www.gnu.org/licenses/fdl-1.3.en.html}. If you want to use some Gnulib modules under LGPL, you can do so by passing the option @samp{--lgpl} to @code{gnulib-tool}. This will -replace the GPL header with an LGPL header while copying the source -files to your package. Similarly, if you want some Gnulib modules +ensure that all imported modules can be used under the LGPL license. +Similarly, if you want some Gnulib modules under LGPLv2+ (Lesser GPL version 2.1 or newer), you can do so by passing the option @samp{--lgpl=2} to @code{gnulib-tool}. Keep in mind that when you submit patches to files in Gnulib, you should license them under a compatible license. This means that sometimes the contribution will have to be LGPL, if the original file is available -under LGPL@. You can find out about it by looking for a "License: LGPL" -information in the corresponding module description. +under LGPL@. You can find out about it by looking at the license header +of the file. @node Steady Development @section Steady Development |