From owner-freebsd-ports@freebsd.org Wed Sep 14 07:19:27 2016 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-ports@mailman.ysv.freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:1900:2254:206a::19:1]) by mailman.ysv.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id DB0F2BDAE3D for ; Wed, 14 Sep 2016 07:19:27 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from rde@tavi.co.uk) Received: from mailman.ysv.freebsd.org (unknown [127.0.1.3]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id C84D5E5F for ; Wed, 14 Sep 2016 07:19:27 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from rde@tavi.co.uk) Received: by mailman.ysv.freebsd.org (Postfix) id C4575BDAE3B; Wed, 14 Sep 2016 07:19:27 +0000 (UTC) Delivered-To: ports@mailman.ysv.freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:1900:2254:206a::19:1]) by mailman.ysv.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id C1B9FBDAE3A for ; Wed, 14 Sep 2016 07:19:27 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from rde@tavi.co.uk) Received: from kipling.tavi.co.uk (kipling.tavi.co.uk [81.187.145.130]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 8CF89E5E for ; Wed, 14 Sep 2016 07:19:24 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from rde@tavi.co.uk) Received: from raksha.tavi.co.uk (raksha.tavi.co.uk [81.187.145.139]) by kipling.tavi.co.uk (Postfix) with ESMTP id B8EEA75927 for ; Wed, 14 Sep 2016 08:19:15 +0100 (BST) Date: Wed, 14 Sep 2016 08:19:15 +0100 From: Bob Eager To: ports@freeBSD.org Subject: LICENSE documentation Message-ID: <20160914081915.72e9cf14@raksha.tavi.co.uk> X-Mailer: Claws Mail 3.13.2 (GTK+ 2.24.29; i386-portbld-freebsd10.3) Face: 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==== MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-BeenThere: freebsd-ports@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.23 Precedence: list List-Id: Porting software to FreeBSD List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 14 Sep 2016 07:19:27 -0000 I recently had a minor patch (to one of the ports I maintain) bounced because I hadn't specified a LICENSE. This port never did have LICENSE, and it had been updated recently with no issues. However, I was told that "I don't see any mention of any kind of license in the package or on the site, so it should be LICENSE= NONE. Note that without clear licensing terms it's impossible to legally use and redistribute the code." (I did erroneously interpret that, initially, to be saying that there MUST be a real license specified, although I realise from the above that NONE is acceptable (and presumably meets the criteria for "clear licensing terms")). Let me make it absolutely clear that I am not criticising or questioning the committers; they are just doing their job. However, I wonder if two things ought to be done: 1) There should be something in the Porter's Handbook about LICENSE. There is little or none, merely material about licensing in a more general sense. I would produce an update myself, but given the above, I am probably not the best person! 2) portlint currently says: "WARN: Makefile: Consider defining LICENSE. 0 fatal errors and 1 warning found." This is not really correct if LICENSE is mandatory. Thanks!