Re: [PATCH v2 2/4] common: dummy_malloc: remove unintended GPL2 eCos-exception-2.0

[Ahmad Fatoum <a.fatoum@pengutronix.de>]

Hello,

On 29.11.20 21:08, Roland Hieber wrote:
> On Thu, Nov 26, 2020 at 06:55:51PM +0100, Ahmad Fatoum wrote:
>> Apparently, the file should be GPL-2.0-only without exceptions:
>>
>> On 24.11.20 09:44, Sascha Hauer wrote[1]:
>>> This looks like I accidently copied the wrong header. I don't think I
>>> did this on purpose. It doesn't make much sense to me when compiling
>>> against dummy malloc is different than compiling against tlsf malloc
>>> or dlmalloc.
>>
>> Ase dropping exceptions is no relicense, it's ok to do here without
>> acknowledgement from all authors. Do so.
> 
> I don't understand this reasoning. The exception allowed someone to link
> this file with non-GPL code, and by dropping this exception, this
> possibility is no longer allowed, so there is a change in license terms.
If a file is dual-licensed and we choose to drop one license, we would
be within our rights to do so according to the dual license.
We still maintain the dual licensing for that file normally (as in future 
contributions are dual-licensed as well) to respect the author's intent.

Similarly, a file licensed under the GNU GPL with a linking exception can
still be distributed under the terms of the GNU GPL only (Wouldn't be
compatible otherwise). The exception grants an additional right, but the
distributor does not have a legal obligation to maintain them.

The original author stated here that it was a mistake, the file is just
a collection of stubs and we are within our rights to drop the exception,
so that's what I did here.

So yes, the license terms changed, but no, the code was't relicensed away
from the GPL, which we couldn't do anyway, without agreement of all
authors.

Of course, IANAL and please correct me if my understanding is wrong.

> The only two other authors of thunder the same licenseis file are Andrey and Jean-Christophe,
> hereby CCed.

Thanks, I should've done this before.

Cheers,
Ahmad

> 
>  - Roland
>  
>> [1]: <20201124084434.GC14718@pengutronix.de>
>>
>> Suggested-by: Sascha Hauer <s.hauer@pengutronix.de>
>> Signed-off-by: Ahmad Fatoum <a.fatoum@pengutronix.de>
>> ---
>> v1 -> v2: new patch
>> ---
>>  common/dummy_malloc.c | 21 +--------------------
>>  1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 20 deletions(-)
>>
>> diff --git a/common/dummy_malloc.c b/common/dummy_malloc.c
>> index 0120d9be2e85..d99b5059cf91 100644
>> --- a/common/dummy_malloc.c
>> +++ b/common/dummy_malloc.c
>> @@ -1,25 +1,6 @@
>> +// SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-only
>>  /*
>>   * Copyright (C) 2013 Sascha Hauer <s.hauer@pengutronix.de>
>> - *
>> - * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
>> - * modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2
>> - * as published by the Free Software Foundation.
>> - *
>> - * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
>> - * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
>> - * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
>> - * GNU General Public License for more details.
>> - *
>> - *
>> - * As a special exception, if other files instantiate templates or use macros
>> - * or inline functions from this file, or you compile this file and link it
>> - * with other works to produce a work based on this file, this file does not
>> - * by itself cause the resulting work to be covered by the GNU General Public
>> - * License. However the source code for this file must still be made available
>> - * in accordance with section (3) of the GNU General Public License.
>> -
>> - * This exception does not invalidate any other reasons why a work based on
>> - * this file might be covered by the GNU General Public License.
>>   */
>>  #include <common.h>
>>  #include <malloc.h>
>> -- 
>> 2.29.2
>>
>>
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> 

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