Re: [Qemu-devel] [PATCH] LICENSE: clarify licensing

[malc <av1474@comtv.ru>]

On Mon, 19 Nov 2012, Stefan Weil wrote:

> Am 19.11.2012 19:34, schrieb malc:
> > On Mon, 19 Nov 2012, Peter Maydell wrote:
> > 
> > > On 19 November 2012 18:21, malc<av1474@comtv.ru>  wrote:
> > > > On Mon, 19 Nov 2012, Anthony Liguori wrote:
> > > > > +5) Files without explicit licenses fall under the GPL v2.
> > > > 
> > > > I have issue with this, files without licenses are just that files
> > > > without licenses.
> > > 
> > > If we believe this (and it seems a logical thing to believe)
> > > then QEMU's not distributable until we rewrite or remove or track
> > > down all authors for all the files without licenses...
> > 
> > Yes.
> 
> That can only be true if those files are older than LICENSE,
> or at least older than the commit which added
> 
> "QEMU as a whole is released under the GNU General Public License". (2007)
> 
> Any file or contribution which was added later (with or without a license
> clause)
> cannot invalidate this general license, so QEMU remains distributable.
> 

I think you are mistaken, this just clarifies the redistributability of
the QEMU as a whole, given that it uses some code which has strong claims
(GPL) it as a whole must adhere to these. If it contains code that has no
license it just can not use that code, nothing GPL can do about it.

> Nevertheless fixing files without explicit license is desirable,
> of course.
> 
> Stefan
> 

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