rtems-libbsd license?

[Sam Caulfield]

Hi there,

What are the licensing implications for a user of rtems-libbsd? Would it be feasible to add something like a LICENSE file to the rtems-libbsd repository, similar to what the main RTEMS repo has (​https://github.com/RTEMS/rtems/blob/master/LICENSE)? This might give us a better idea of the licensing requirements.

Thanks,

Sam

[Sam Caulfield]

I have changed the priority to high to reflect that we need clarity around the license as part of a product which is about to be released.

[Chris Johns]

The FreeBSD source tree is covered by ​COPYRIGHT.

Below is a start. It does not contain all the copyrights, eg ​https://git.rtems.org/rtems-libbsd/tree/rtemsbsd/sys/dev/mve/if_mve_nexus.c.

RTEMS LibBSD Licenses
=====================

FreeBSD sources are covered by `freebsd/COPYRIGHT`. Refer to that
file for license details for the code in that section of the source
tree.

The remaining code is under a BSD 2-clause license unless specifically
indicated in the source file:

 Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
 modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
 are met:
 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
    notice, this list of conditions, and the following disclaimer,
    without modification, immediately at the beginning of the file.
 2. The name of the author may not be used to endorse or promote products
    derived from this software without specific prior written permission.
 
 THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE AUTHOR AND CONTRIBUTORS ``AS IS'' AND
 ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
 IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
 ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR
 ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL
 DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS
 OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION)
 HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT
 LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY
 OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF
 SUCH DAMAGE.

[Sebastian Huber]

The libbsd uses only permissive licenses. The libbsd is based on FreeBSD and consists of several distinct software components. All of them have their own license files. From the ​FreeBSD front page:

For copyright information, please see the file COPYRIGHT in this directory.
Additional copyright information also exists for some sources in this tree -
please see the specific source directories for more information.

If you want to improve the license handling in libbsd, then you should address this issue in FreeBSD first and then back port it to libbsd.

[Sam Caulfield]

Hi Chris and Sebastian,

Many thanks for your responses. Your prompt feedback is much appreciated. I have forwarded this information and will update the status of the ticket appropriately when I hear back.

Sam

[Chris Johns]

Hi Sam,

Thanks. We welcome external reviews of how we handle licenses and we welcome review comments.

Chris

[Chris Johns]

Replying to Sebastian Huber:

If you want to improve the license handling in libbsd, then you should address this issue in FreeBSD first and then back port it to libbsd.

We need to have something to explain this as libbsd is not directly under FreeBSD. What about?

RTEMS LibBSD Licenses
=====================

The FreeBSD front page (https://github.com/freebsd/freebsd-src) states:
 
 "For copyright information, please see the file COPYRIGHT in this directory.
  Additional copyright information also exists for some sources in this tree -
  please see the specific source directories for more information."

We have a copy of that file in LibBSD as `freebsd/COPYRIGHT`.

The remaining code this repository is under a BSD 2-clause license unless
specifically indicated in the source file:

 Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
 modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
 are met:
 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
    notice, this list of conditions, and the following disclaimer,
    without modification, immediately at the beginning of the file.
 2. The name of the author may not be used to endorse or promote products
    derived from this software without specific prior written permission.
 
 THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE AUTHOR AND CONTRIBUTORS ``AS IS'' AND
 ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
 IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
 ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR
 ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL
 DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS
 OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION)
 HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT
 LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY
 OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF
 SUCH DAMAGE.

[Sam Caulfield]

Hi Chris,

The proposed license file would certainly make things more clear, and easier to use from a legal perspective.

For our project, we are happy to proceed knowing that the licenses in the RTEMS-libbsd repo are all permissive enough for our use case.