[U-Boot] u-boot license: SPDX GPL-2.0+ deprecated?

[U-Boot] u-boot license: SPDX GPL-2.0+ deprecated?

[Sharma Bhupesh]

Hi Wolfgang, Others

I was going through the Software Package Data Exchange (SPDX) licensing terms for GNU General Public License v2.0 or later, as u-boot licensing uses the same on the header files (SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0+) (please see [1]).

However, on the SPDX license page for GPL-2.0+ it is mentioned that this license has been deprecated since Release 2.0 of the SPDX Specification [2.0rc2] (please see [2]).

This confuses me. Do we need to change the licensing information text on the header files?

[1] http://www.denx.de/wiki/U-Boot/Licensing
[2] http://spdx.org/licenses/GPL-2.0+

Regards,
Bhupesh

[U-Boot] u-boot license: SPDX GPL-2.0+ deprecated?

[Michael Heimpold]

Hi Bhupesh,

Am Freitag, 14. August 2015, 08:24:27 schrieb Sharma Bhupesh:
> Hi Wolfgang, Others
> 
> I was going through the Software Package Data Exchange (SPDX) licensing terms for GNU General Public License v2.0 or later, as u-boot licensing uses the same on the header files (SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0+) (please see [1]).
> 
> However, on the SPDX license page for GPL-2.0+ it is mentioned that this license has been deprecated since Release 2.0 of the SPDX Specification [2.0rc2] (please see [2]).
> 

If I understand this correctly, it's only a interpretation thing.
Before, the short tag "GPL-2.0+" pointed directly to a license "GNU General Public License v2.0 or later"
and "GPL-2.0" pointed directly to "GNU General Public License v2.0 only".

Now with the new  "License Expression Syntax", the term "GPL-2.0+" must be
first interpreted, and the result is something like "(GNU General Public License v2.0 only) or later",
which is actual the same as before (at least for me as non-lawyer :-)

> This confuses me. Do we need to change the licensing information text on the header files?

I don't think so. I guess the reason behind is to make it easier for e.g. automatic license
checking.
> 
> [1] http://www.denx.de/wiki/U-Boot/Licensing
> [2] http://spdx.org/licenses/GPL-2.0+
> 
> Regards,
> Bhupesh
> 

Best regards,
Michael