[dm-crypt] License Clarification

[dm-crypt] License Clarification

[Nathaniel McCallum]

In reviewing the license choices of a set of my projects, I have
noticed an inconsistency in licensing and I would like to receive some
clarification.

There is a commit that changes some of the code to LGPLv2.1+:
https://gitlab.com/cryptsetup/cryptsetup/commit/7eccb7ff5031a4f42f1ae8f7ffaefe80ba0d53dd

However, the main header still reads GPLv2+:
https://gitlab.com/cryptsetup/cryptsetup/blob/master/lib/libcryptsetup.h

Further, the API examples have LGPLv2.1+:
https://gitlab.com/cryptsetup/cryptsetup/wikis/API/index.html

Again, the openssl crypto backend are licensed as LGPLv2.1+ w/ openssl
exception. However, this exception doesn't seem to apply to the whole
library:
https://gitlab.com/cryptsetup/cryptsetup/blob/master/lib/crypto_backend/crypto_openssl.c

In short, it is very unclear to me how this licensing is supposed to work.

The best I can ascertain is this:

crypto-backend (LGPLv2+) ==> libcryptsetup (GPLv2+) ==> API examples (LGPLv2+)

It would, thus, seem to me that the API examples are incompatibly
licensed and cannot actually link against libcryptsetup.

Further, it seems to me that the crypto-backend can link against
openssl, but not libcryptsetup itself. This further implies that
consumers of libcryptsetup cannot link against openssl.

Have I understood this correctly?

Re: [dm-crypt] License Clarification

[Milan Broz]

The original intention is documented here
http://www.saout.de/pipermail/dm-crypt/2012-December/002992.html

Anyway, I have contacted lawyers to check it and for possible
guidance if a fix is needed.

Thanks,
Milan

On 11/10/2016 08:41 PM, Nathaniel McCallum wrote:
> In reviewing the license choices of a set of my projects, I have
> noticed an inconsistency in licensing and I would like to receive some
> clarification.
> 
> There is a commit that changes some of the code to LGPLv2.1+:
> https://gitlab.com/cryptsetup/cryptsetup/commit/7eccb7ff5031a4f42f1ae8f7ffaefe80ba0d53dd
> 
> However, the main header still reads GPLv2+:
> https://gitlab.com/cryptsetup/cryptsetup/blob/master/lib/libcryptsetup.h
> 
> Further, the API examples have LGPLv2.1+:
> https://gitlab.com/cryptsetup/cryptsetup/wikis/API/index.html
> 
> Again, the openssl crypto backend are licensed as LGPLv2.1+ w/ openssl
> exception. However, this exception doesn't seem to apply to the whole
> library:
> https://gitlab.com/cryptsetup/cryptsetup/blob/master/lib/crypto_backend/crypto_openssl.c
> 
> In short, it is very unclear to me how this licensing is supposed to work.
> 
> The best I can ascertain is this:
> 
> crypto-backend (LGPLv2+) ==> libcryptsetup (GPLv2+) ==> API examples (LGPLv2+)
> 
> It would, thus, seem to me that the API examples are incompatibly
> licensed and cannot actually link against libcryptsetup.
> 
> Further, it seems to me that the crypto-backend can link against
> openssl, but not libcryptsetup itself. This further implies that
> consumers of libcryptsetup cannot link against openssl.
> 
> Have I understood this correctly?
> _______________________________________________
> dm-crypt mailing list
> dm-crypt@saout.de
> http://www.saout.de/mailman/listinfo/dm-crypt
> 

Re: [dm-crypt] License Clarification

[Nathaniel McCallum]

Thanks for the response. My particular concern is the ability to link
to both libcryptsetup and openssl higher up in the stack.

On Mon, Nov 14, 2016 at 3:22 PM, Milan Broz <gmazyland@gmail.com> wrote:
> The original intention is documented here
> http://www.saout.de/pipermail/dm-crypt/2012-December/002992.html
>
> Anyway, I have contacted lawyers to check it and for possible
> guidance if a fix is needed.
>
> Thanks,
> Milan
>
> On 11/10/2016 08:41 PM, Nathaniel McCallum wrote:
>> In reviewing the license choices of a set of my projects, I have
>> noticed an inconsistency in licensing and I would like to receive some
>> clarification.
>>
>> There is a commit that changes some of the code to LGPLv2.1+:
>> https://gitlab.com/cryptsetup/cryptsetup/commit/7eccb7ff5031a4f42f1ae8f7ffaefe80ba0d53dd
>>
>> However, the main header still reads GPLv2+:
>> https://gitlab.com/cryptsetup/cryptsetup/blob/master/lib/libcryptsetup.h
>>
>> Further, the API examples have LGPLv2.1+:
>> https://gitlab.com/cryptsetup/cryptsetup/wikis/API/index.html
>>
>> Again, the openssl crypto backend are licensed as LGPLv2.1+ w/ openssl
>> exception. However, this exception doesn't seem to apply to the whole
>> library:
>> https://gitlab.com/cryptsetup/cryptsetup/blob/master/lib/crypto_backend/crypto_openssl.c
>>
>> In short, it is very unclear to me how this licensing is supposed to work.
>>
>> The best I can ascertain is this:
>>
>> crypto-backend (LGPLv2+) ==> libcryptsetup (GPLv2+) ==> API examples (LGPLv2+)
>>
>> It would, thus, seem to me that the API examples are incompatibly
>> licensed and cannot actually link against libcryptsetup.
>>
>> Further, it seems to me that the crypto-backend can link against
>> openssl, but not libcryptsetup itself. This further implies that
>> consumers of libcryptsetup cannot link against openssl.
>>
>> Have I understood this correctly?
>> _______________________________________________
>> dm-crypt mailing list
>> dm-crypt@saout.de
>> http://www.saout.de/mailman/listinfo/dm-crypt
>>