78 lines
3.3 KiB
Plaintext
78 lines
3.3 KiB
Plaintext
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The DPDK uses the Open Source BSD-3-Clause license for the core libraries and
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drivers. The kernel components are naturally GPL-2.0 licensed.
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Including big blocks of License headers in all files blows up the
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source code with mostly redundant information. An additional problem
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is that even the same licenses are referred to by a number of
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slightly varying text blocks (full, abbreviated, different
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indentation, line wrapping and/or white space, with obsolete address
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information, ...) which makes validation and automatic processing a nightmare.
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To make this easier, DPDK uses a single line reference to Unique License
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Identifiers in source files as defined by the Linux Foundation's SPDX project
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(https://spdx.org/).
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Adding license information in this fashion, rather than adding full license
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text, can be more efficient for developers; decreases errors; and improves
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automated detection of licenses. The current set of valid, predefined SPDX
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identifiers is set forth on the SPDX License List at https://spdx.org/licenses/.
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DPDK uses first line of the file to be SPDX tag. In case of *#!* scripts, SPDX
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tag can be placed in 2nd line of the file.
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For example, to label a file as subject to the BSD-3-Clause license,
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the following text would be used:
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SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
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To label a file as GPL-2.0 (e.g., for code that runs in the kernel), the
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following text would be used:
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SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
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To label a file as dual-licensed with BSD-3-Clause and GPL-2.0 (e.g., for code
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that is shared between the kernel and userspace), the following text would be
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used:
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SPDX-License-Identifier: (BSD-3-Clause OR GPL-2.0)
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To label a file as dual-licensed with BSD-3-Clause and LGPL-2.1 (e.g., for code
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that is shared between the kernel and userspace), the following text would be
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used:
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SPDX-License-Identifier: (BSD-3-Clause OR LGPL-2.1)
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Any new file contributions in DPDK shall adhere to the above scheme.
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It is also being recommended to replace the existing license text in the code
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with SPDX-License-Identifiers.
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Any exception to the DPDK IP policies shall be approved by DPDK Tech Board and
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DPDK Governing Board. Steps for any exception approval:
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1. Mention the appropriate license identifier form SPDX. If the license is not
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listed in SPDX Licenses. It is the submitters responsibiliity to get it
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first listed.
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2. Get the required approval from the DPDK Technical Board. Technical Board may
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advise the author to check alternate means first. If no other alternative
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are found and the merit of the contributions are important for DPDK's
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mission, it may decide on such exception with two-thirds vote of the members.
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3. Technical Board then approach Governing Board for such limited approval for
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the given contribution only.
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Any approvals shall be documented in "Licenses/exceptions.txt" with record
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dates.
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DPDK project supported licenses are:
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1. BSD 3-clause "New" or "Revised" License
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SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
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URL: http://spdx.org/licenses/BSD-3-Clause#licenseText
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DPDK License text: licenses/bsd-3-clause.txt
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2. GNU General Public License v2.0 only
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SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
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URL: http://spdx.org/licenses/GPL-2.0.html#licenseText
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DPDK License text: licenses/gpl-2.0.txt
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3. GNU Lesser General Public License v2.1
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SPDX-License-Identifieri: LGPL-2.1
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URL: http://spdx.org/licenses/LGPL-2.1.html#licenseText
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DPDK License text: licenses/lgpl-2.1.txt
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