blktests: call for agreement to relicense GPL-2.0 files

blktests: call for agreement to relicense GPL-2.0 files

[Shin'ichiro Kawasaki]

Hello blktests contributors,

Recent discussion unveiled a license inconsistency [1]. Currently, each file of
blktests has one of the licenses: GPL-2.0, GPL-2.0+ or GPL-3.0+. Majority of the
blktests code has GPL-3.0+, so the effective main license is GPL-3.0+ (e.g.,
check, common/rc). However, GPL-2.0 and GPL-3.0 are not compatible with each
other [2]. Because the majority of blktests is GPL-3.0+, blktests cannot contain
GPL-2.0 files. All files shall be GPL-2.0+ or GPL-3.0+.

  [1] https://lore.kernel.org/linux-block/20260626045650.GA8752@lst.de/
  [2] https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#v2v3Compatibility

As of July 2026, seven files below have GPL-2.0. It is desired to change their
license to GPL-2.0+ (or GPL-3.0+). The list below shows Authors and Contributors
of each file. "Author" means the original file creator who set the license
GPL-2.0. "Contributor" means those who made changes to the files later on.

1) block/029
    Author: Bart Van Assche <bvanassche@acm.org>
    Contributors: Yi Zhang <yi.zhang@redhat.com>
		  Christoph Hellwig <hch@lst.de>
		  Li Zhijian <lizhijian@fujitsu.com>

2) block/030
    Author: Bart Van Assche <bvanassche@acm.org>
    Contributors: Christoph Hellwig <hch@lst.de>
		  Li Zhijian <lizhijian@fujitsu.com>
		  Akinobu Mita <akinobu.mita@gmail.com>

3) block/031
    Author: Bart Van Assche <bvanassche@acm.org>
    Contributors: Yi Zhang <yi.zhang@redhat.com>
		  Christoph Hellwig <hch@lst.de>
		  Shin'ichiro Kawasaki <shinichiro.kawasaki@wdc.com>

4) block/040
    Author: Ming Lei <ming.lei@redhat.com>

5) block/042
    Author: Keith Busch <kbusch@kernel.org>
    Contributors: Shin'ichiro Kawasaki <shinichiro.kawasaki@wdc.com>
		  John Pittman <jpittman@redhat.com>

6) block/043
    Author: Keith Busch <kbusch@kernel.org>
    Contributors: Shin'ichiro Kawasaki <shinichiro.kawasaki@wdc.com>

7) src/dio-offsets.c
    Author: Keith Busch <kbusch@kernel.org>
    Contributors: Shin'ichiro Kawasaki <shinichiro.kawasaki@wdc.com>
		  Bart Van Assche <bvanassche@acm.org>


To the authors and the contributors,

  I would like to call for your responses. Please let us know if you agree to
  modify the license of the files from GPL-2.0 to GPL-2.0+ (or GPL-3.0+).


I will wait for a few weeks to gather responses. Once agreement gets
estabilished, I will ask the authors to submit patches to make the license
change. Any other general comments on this topic will be appreciated also.

And as one of the contributors, here I express my agreement to change the
license of the files :)

Re: blktests: call for agreement to relicense GPL-2.0 files

[Ming Lei]

On Tue, Jul 7, 2026 at 1:39 AM Shin'ichiro Kawasaki
<shinichiro.kawasaki@wdc.com> wrote:
>
> Hello blktests contributors,
>
> Recent discussion unveiled a license inconsistency [1]. Currently, each file of
> blktests has one of the licenses: GPL-2.0, GPL-2.0+ or GPL-3.0+. Majority of the
> blktests code has GPL-3.0+, so the effective main license is GPL-3.0+ (e.g.,
> check, common/rc). However, GPL-2.0 and GPL-3.0 are not compatible with each
> other [2]. Because the majority of blktests is GPL-3.0+, blktests cannot contain
> GPL-2.0 files. All files shall be GPL-2.0+ or GPL-3.0+.
>
>   [1] https://lore.kernel.org/linux-block/20260626045650.GA8752@lst.de/
>   [2] https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#v2v3Compatibility
>
> As of July 2026, seven files below have GPL-2.0. It is desired to change their
> license to GPL-2.0+ (or GPL-3.0+). The list below shows Authors and Contributors
> of each file. "Author" means the original file creator who set the license
> GPL-2.0. "Contributor" means those who made changes to the files later on.
>
> 1) block/029
>     Author: Bart Van Assche <bvanassche@acm.org>
>     Contributors: Yi Zhang <yi.zhang@redhat.com>
>                   Christoph Hellwig <hch@lst.de>
>                   Li Zhijian <lizhijian@fujitsu.com>
>
> 2) block/030
>     Author: Bart Van Assche <bvanassche@acm.org>
>     Contributors: Christoph Hellwig <hch@lst.de>
>                   Li Zhijian <lizhijian@fujitsu.com>
>                   Akinobu Mita <akinobu.mita@gmail.com>
>
> 3) block/031
>     Author: Bart Van Assche <bvanassche@acm.org>
>     Contributors: Yi Zhang <yi.zhang@redhat.com>
>                   Christoph Hellwig <hch@lst.de>
>                   Shin'ichiro Kawasaki <shinichiro.kawasaki@wdc.com>
>
> 4) block/040
>     Author: Ming Lei <ming.lei@redhat.com>

Ack for switching block/040 from GPL-2.0 to GPL-3.0+.


Thanks
Ming Lei

Re: blktests: call for agreement to relicense GPL-2.0 files

[Bart Van Assche]

On 7/6/26 11:38 PM, Shin'ichiro Kawasaki wrote:
> To the authors and the contributors,
> 
>    I would like to call for your responses. Please let us know if you agree to
>    modify the license of the files from GPL-2.0 to GPL-2.0+ (or GPL-3.0+).

I'm fine with making this change.

Thanks,

Bart.

Re: blktests: call for agreement to relicense GPL-2.0 files

[Keith Busch]

On Tue, Jul 07, 2026 at 03:38:51PM +0900, Shin'ichiro Kawasaki wrote:
> 5) block/042
>     Author: Keith Busch <kbusch@kernel.org>
>     Contributors: Shin'ichiro Kawasaki <shinichiro.kawasaki@wdc.com>
> 		  John Pittman <jpittman@redhat.com>
> 
> 6) block/043
>     Author: Keith Busch <kbusch@kernel.org>
>     Contributors: Shin'ichiro Kawasaki <shinichiro.kawasaki@wdc.com>
> 
> 7) src/dio-offsets.c
>     Author: Keith Busch <kbusch@kernel.org>
>     Contributors: Shin'ichiro Kawasaki <shinichiro.kawasaki@wdc.com>
> 		  Bart Van Assche <bvanassche@acm.org>

Ack for switching to GPL-3.0+

Re: blktests: call for agreement to relicense GPL-2.0 files

[Zhijian Li (Fujitsu)]

On 07/07/2026 14:38, Shin'ichiro Kawasaki wrote:
> 1) block/029
>      Author: Bart Van Assche<bvanassche@acm.org>
>      Contributors: Yi Zhang<yi.zhang@redhat.com>
> 		  Christoph Hellwig<hch@lst.de>
> 		  Li Zhijian<lizhijian@fujitsu.com>
> 
> 2) block/030
>      Author: Bart Van Assche<bvanassche@acm.org>
>      Contributors: Christoph Hellwig<hch@lst.de>
> 		  Li Zhijian<lizhijian@fujitsu.com>
> 		  Akinobu Mita<akinobu.mita@gmail.com>


Ack for switching to GPL-3.0+

Re: blktests: call for agreement to relicense GPL-2.0 files

[Christoph Hellwig]

As a contributor I'm fine with all the specified options.

Re: blktests: call for agreement to relicense GPL-2.0 files

[Akinobu Mita]

2026年7月7日(火) 15:39 Shin'ichiro Kawasaki <shinichiro.kawasaki@wdc.com>:
> 2) block/030
>     Author: Bart Van Assche <bvanassche@acm.org>
>     Contributors: Christoph Hellwig <hch@lst.de>
>                   Li Zhijian <lizhijian@fujitsu.com>
>                   Akinobu Mita <akinobu.mita@gmail.com>

I agree to the license change.
Thank you for your work.