Linux kernel mirror (for testing) git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git
kernel os linux

COPYING: create a new file with points to the Kernel license files

With the addition of SPDX patchset, the contents of COPYING file
is now duplicated at two other files under LICENSE:
LICENSES/preferred/GPL-2.0
LICENSES/exceptions/Linux-syscall-note

It is easy to check that the contents of the licence written on
those files are identical with COPYING using:

$ diff -upr COPYING LICENSES/preferred/GPL-2.0
$ diff -upr COPYING LICENSES/exceptions/Linux-syscall-note|less

Also, a new file was added, with describes how SPDX should work at
the Kernel source files:
Documentation/process/license-rules.rst

Instead fo having it copying the contents of two files, and not
even mentioning the third one, replace it by a file whose content
points to the other tree files, preserving the Kernel's license.

Adjust license-rules.rst accordingly.

Please notice that this file preserves the Kernel license as
is, without any changes.

Signed-off-by: Mauro Carvalho Chehab <mchehab@s-opensource.com>
Reviewed-by: Greg Kroah-Hartman <gregkh@linuxfoundation.org>
Signed-off-by: Jonathan Corbet <corbet@lwn.net>

authored by

Mauro Carvalho Chehab and committed by
Jonathan Corbet
88de995c aebb47d4

+28 -8
+18
COPYING.new
··· 1 + The Linux Kernel is provided under: 2 + 3 + SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 WITH Linux-syscall-note 4 + 5 + Being under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 only, 6 + according with: 7 + 8 + LICENSES/preferred/GPL-2.0 9 + 10 + With an explicit syscall exception, as stated at: 11 + 12 + LICENSES/exceptions/Linux-syscall-note 13 + 14 + In addition, other licenses may also apply. Please see: 15 + 16 + Documentation/process/license-rules.rst 17 + 18 + for more details.
+10 -8
Documentation/process/license-rules.rst
··· 4 4 ============================ 5 5 6 6 The Linux Kernel is provided under the terms of the GNU General Public 7 - License version 2 only (GPL-2.0), as published by the Free Software 8 - Foundation, and provided in the COPYING file. This documentation file is 9 - not meant to replace the COPYING file, but provides a description of how 10 - each source file should be annotated to make the licensing it is governed 11 - under clear and unambiguous. 7 + License version 2 only (GPL-2.0), as provided in LICENSES/preferred/GPL-2.0, 8 + with an explicit syscall exception described in 9 + LICENSES/exceptions/Linux-syscall-note, as described in the COPYING file. 12 10 13 - The license in the COPYING file applies to the kernel source as a whole, 14 - though individual source files can have a different license which is 15 - required to be compatible with the GPL-2.0:: 11 + This documentation file provides a description of how each source file 12 + should be annotated to make its license clear and unambiguous. 13 + It doesn't replace the Kernel's license. 14 + 15 + The license described in the COPYING file applies to the kernel source 16 + as a whole, though individual source files can have a different license 17 + which is required to be compatible with the GPL-2.0:: 16 18 17 19 GPL-1.0+ : GNU General Public License v1.0 or later 18 20 GPL-2.0+ : GNU General Public License v2.0 or later