en/glep/glep-0023.txt

GLEP: 23
Title: Portage handling of ACCEPT_LICENSE
Version: $Revision: 1.2 $
Last-Modified: $Date: 2004/03/11 02:35:40 $
Author: Jason Stubbs <jstubbs@gentoo.org>,
Status: Accepted
Type: Standards Track
Content-Type: text/x-rst
Created: 9-Mar-2004
Post-History: 8-Mar-2004 10-Mar-2004 25-Oct-2004


Abstract
========

Currently, every ebuild in the portage tree is required to have a valid 
LICENSE entry.  However, the syntax of this entry is not officially 
defined and the entry itself is only used when outputting package 
details.

Status Update
=============

Repoman has been updated to check for the LICENSE syntax.
 

Motivation
==========

Many users wish to regulate the software they install with regards to 
licenses for various reasons [1]_.  Some want a system free of any 
software that is not OSI-approved; others are simply curious as to what 
licenses they are implicitly accepting.

Furthermore, some software requires that a user interactively accept its 
license for its author's to consider it legally binding.  This is 
currently implemented using ``eutils.eclass``.


Specification
=============

Ebuild LICENSE Variable
-----------------------

Most ebuilds are for software which is released under a single license.  
In these cases, the current LICENSE variable can remain as is.  For 
example:

::

        LICENSE="single-license"

However, there are several ebuilds for software which is released under 
several licenses, of which the user must accept one, some or all [2]_.  
To complicate this, some ebuilds include optional components which fall 
under a different license.

To accomodate these cases, LICENSE syntax should accomodate all 
functionality offered by a DEPEND string.  To keep things simple, this 
GLEP proposes that the syntax be identical.  For example:

::

        LICENSE="mandatory-license
            || ( choosable-licence1 chooseable-license-2 )
            useflag? ( optional-component-license )"


License Groups
--------------

Almost all users are willing to install any software that is 
FSF-approved.  Other users are willing to install any software and 
implicitly accept its license.  To this end, portage will also need to 
handle grouping of licenses.

At a minimum, there needs to be the groups ``GPL-COMPATIBLE``, 
``FSF-APPROVED``, ``OSI-APPROVED`` and ``NON-INTERACTIVE``.  
``NON-INTERACTIVE`` licenses are those that don't require interactive 
acceptance for to be considered legally binding.  This is the current 
behaviour of portage.


ACCEPT_LICENSE
--------------

This GLEP proposes that a user be able to explicitly accept or decline 
licenses by editing a new variable ``ACCEPT_LICENSE`` in 
``/etc/make.conf``.  Again, to keep things simple, the syntax should be 
similar to that of other incrementals.  For example:

::

        ACCEPT_LICENSE="-* accepted-license -declined-license"

As an extension, ``ACCEPT_LICENSE`` must also support `license groups`_.  
This GLEP proposes that the license group be prepended by the special 
character "``@``".  For example:

::

        ACCEPT_LICENSE="-* @FSF-APPROVED"


Emerge Behaviour
----------------

At a minimum, emerge must handle unaccepted licenses the same way that 
it handles blockers.  That is, with the --pretend flag the 
not-yet-accepted license should be listed in the output.  Without the 
--pretend flag, emerge should stop before any software is installed.

This GLEP proposes that, unlike blockers, dependencies for software 
should be checked regardless of license acceptance.  Doing so will allow 
the user to review all necessary licenses before initiating an actual 
emerge.

It is also proposed that the --ask option will display an unaccepted 
license and ask for acceptance, but not update any configuration files 
at this stage.  Finally, the --verbose option should also list the 
licenses accepted for each package.


Rationale
=========

An implementation of this proposal should make it easy for users wishing 
to regulate their software without affecting those that don't.


Reference Implementation
========================

TODO


Backwards Compatibility
=======================

There should be no change to the user experience without the user 
explicitly choosing to do so.  This mandates that the 
configuration variable be named ``ACCEPT_LICENSE`` as some users may 
already have it set due to ebuilds using ``eutil.eclass``'s 
implementation.  It also mandates that the default ``ACCEPT_LICENSE`` be 
set to ``@NON-INTERACTIVE``.


References
==========

.. [1] Gentoo Linux Bug 17367
       (http://bugs.gentoo.org/show_bug.cgi?id=17367)
.. [2] Gentoo Linux Bug 34146 
       (http://bugs.gentoo.org/show_bug.cgi?id=34146)


Copyright
=========

This document has been placed in the public domain.
1	GLEP: 23
2	Title: Portage handling of ACCEPT_LICENSE
3	Version: $Revision: 1.2 $
4	Last-Modified: $Date: 2004/03/11 02:35:40 $
5	Author: Jason Stubbs <jstubbs@gentoo.org>,
6	Status: Accepted
7	Type: Standards Track
8	Content-Type: text/x-rst
9	Created: 9-Mar-2004
10	Post-History: 8-Mar-2004 10-Mar-2004 25-Oct-2004
11
12
13	Abstract
14	========
15
16	Currently, every ebuild in the portage tree is required to have a valid
17	LICENSE entry. However, the syntax of this entry is not officially
18	defined and the entry itself is only used when outputting package
19	details.
20
21	Status Update
22	=============
23
24	Repoman has been updated to check for the LICENSE syntax.
25
26
27	Motivation
28	==========
29
30	Many users wish to regulate the software they install with regards to
31	licenses for various reasons [1]_. Some want a system free of any
32	software that is not OSI-approved; others are simply curious as to what
33	licenses they are implicitly accepting.
34
35	Furthermore, some software requires that a user interactively accept its
36	license for its author's to consider it legally binding. This is
37	currently implemented using ``eutils.eclass``.
38
39
40	Specification
41	=============
42
43	Ebuild LICENSE Variable
44	-----------------------
45
46	Most ebuilds are for software which is released under a single license.
47	In these cases, the current LICENSE variable can remain as is. For
48	example:
49
50	::
51
52	LICENSE="single-license"
53
54	However, there are several ebuilds for software which is released under
55	several licenses, of which the user must accept one, some or all [2]_.
56	To complicate this, some ebuilds include optional components which fall
57	under a different license.
58
59	To accomodate these cases, LICENSE syntax should accomodate all
60	functionality offered by a DEPEND string. To keep things simple, this
61	GLEP proposes that the syntax be identical. For example:
62
63	::
64
65	LICENSE="mandatory-license
66	\|\| ( choosable-licence1 chooseable-license-2 )
67	useflag? ( optional-component-license )"
68
69
70	License Groups
71	--------------
72
73	Almost all users are willing to install any software that is
74	FSF-approved. Other users are willing to install any software and
75	implicitly accept its license. To this end, portage will also need to
76	handle grouping of licenses.
77
78	At a minimum, there needs to be the groups ``GPL-COMPATIBLE``,
79	``FSF-APPROVED``, ``OSI-APPROVED`` and ``NON-INTERACTIVE``.
80	``NON-INTERACTIVE`` licenses are those that don't require interactive
81	acceptance for to be considered legally binding. This is the current
82	behaviour of portage.
83
84
85	ACCEPT_LICENSE
86	--------------
87
88	This GLEP proposes that a user be able to explicitly accept or decline
89	licenses by editing a new variable ``ACCEPT_LICENSE`` in
90	``/etc/make.conf``. Again, to keep things simple, the syntax should be
91	similar to that of other incrementals. For example:
92
93	::
94
95	ACCEPT_LICENSE="-* accepted-license -declined-license"
96
97	As an extension, ``ACCEPT_LICENSE`` must also support `license groups`_.
98	This GLEP proposes that the license group be prepended by the special
99	character "``@``". For example:
100
101	::
102
103	ACCEPT_LICENSE="-* @FSF-APPROVED"
104
105
106	Emerge Behaviour
107	----------------
108
109	At a minimum, emerge must handle unaccepted licenses the same way that
110	it handles blockers. That is, with the --pretend flag the
111	not-yet-accepted license should be listed in the output. Without the
112	--pretend flag, emerge should stop before any software is installed.
113
114	This GLEP proposes that, unlike blockers, dependencies for software
115	should be checked regardless of license acceptance. Doing so will allow
116	the user to review all necessary licenses before initiating an actual
117	emerge.
118
119	It is also proposed that the --ask option will display an unaccepted
120	license and ask for acceptance, but not update any configuration files
121	at this stage. Finally, the --verbose option should also list the
122	licenses accepted for each package.
123
124
125	Rationale
126	=========
127
128	An implementation of this proposal should make it easy for users wishing
129	to regulate their software without affecting those that don't.
130
131
132	Reference Implementation
133	========================
134
135	TODO
136
137
138	Backwards Compatibility
139	=======================
140
141	There should be no change to the user experience without the user
142	explicitly choosing to do so. This mandates that the
143	configuration variable be named ``ACCEPT_LICENSE`` as some users may
144	already have it set due to ebuilds using ``eutil.eclass``'s
145	implementation. It also mandates that the default ``ACCEPT_LICENSE`` be
146	set to ``@NON-INTERACTIVE``.
147
148
149	References
150	==========
151
152	.. [1] Gentoo Linux Bug 17367
153	(http://bugs.gentoo.org/show_bug.cgi?id=17367)
154	.. [2] Gentoo Linux Bug 34146
155	(http://bugs.gentoo.org/show_bug.cgi?id=34146)
156
157
158	Copyright
159	=========
160
161	This document has been placed in the public domain.