Npm now forbids the user to put nonspdx licenses in the license field during npm init, and complain thereafter if you have something weird in there. Generating spdx files with licensecheck murrays blog. The software package data exchange spdx format dr dobbs. The purpose of the spdx license list is to enable easy and efficient identification of such licenses and exceptions in an spdx document, in source files or elsewhere. Yocto project provides the recipe including license information, but its still not enough, because its hard to maintain license information while the license of whole or part of oss is changed. When a license identified in the software package is not found in the list of approved spdx licenses, one can add the license text to the spdx file and define a new license label. A peer private license draft of developertodeveloper commercial and closedsource license 20180126. As a result, the api does not take into account the licenses of project dependencies or other means of documenting a projects license such as references to the license name in the documentation. Spdx license expression where an spdx license expression is defined in spdx 2. Thepurpose of the spdx license list is to enableeasy and efficientidentification of such licenses and exceptions in an spdx document, in source filesor elsewhere. How does one handle non open source licenses or licenses not found in the spdx approved license list. Dec 23, 2010 the software package data exchange spdx working group aims to make compliance with foss licenses much easier.
Then include a file named at the top level of the package. Participation is open to anyone and at any level and you will find us a warm and welcoming group. Here is an official example though it is probably not up to date with the current spdx specification. The following is no longer valid for current versions of npm. The software package data exchange spdx standard is an. But when i npm init it wants me to use an spdx license. Software package data exchange spdx is an open standard for communicating software bill of material information including components, licenses, s, and security references. The goals are integrating the fossology output with the spdx standard. Do not specify an open source license like mit or bsd3 or any. Up to june 2019 most source files had a boilerplate license disclaimer. Open source licenses grant permission for anybody to use, modify, and share licensed software for any purpose, subject to conditions preserving the provenance and openness of the software. The following licenses are sorted by the number of conditions, from most gnu agplv3 to none unlicense. In addition to the great benefit of being able to reuse code, opensource licenses present some challenges for businesses. The w11 project is licensed under the terms of the gnu general public license v3 with the or any later version clause.
Jan 17, 2018 the software package data exchange spdx is a linux foundation project to help reduce the ambiguity of software by defining standards for reporting information. An insight into license tools for open source software systems article in journal of systems and software 102 december 2014 with 114 reads how we measure reads. A module to generate spdx file from packages scanned by fossology. Black duck software announces support for spdx version 1. The purpose of the spdx license list is to enable easy and efficient identification of such licenses and exceptionsin an spdx document, in source files or elsewhere. Source code scanning and license compliance dido wiki. All current versions of ischosted software, including bind 9. Found licenses nail seeks hammer, any hammer 20180122. Sharing open source license and copyright data with spdx. The license is included in the top level project directory as as license.
Developer licensing should license zero stay between developers. I do not want to reference isc or mit in closedsource modules. This license is identical to the mit license, but with an extra sentence that prohibits using the holders names for advertising or promotional purposes without written permission. This post collects a general knowledge about opensource licenses and. During linuxcon europe 2016, the linux foundation presented a tool for licensing compliance for open source software oss. Software packages described in spdx format are examined in order to detect license violations that may occur when a product combines different software sources that carry different and potentially. Over the last couple of days, i added functionality that generates license information in my oer html presentations from spdx headers embedded in source files. Automating the license compatibility process in open source. Support for reuse spdx headers in emacsreveal free. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, my posts on this blog are licensed under a creative commons attributionsharealike 4. Spdx group a work group of linux foundation goal to create a defined format for a file of license fact information describing a software package history a grass roots effort started by corporate counsels, business leads, and release managers responsible for ensuring release compliance with applicable licenses of. That license label is defined only for that specific spdx file.
Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files the software, to deal in the software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, andor sell copies of the software, and to permit. Aug 31, 2012 this week i had to provide an spdx file to a customer. If you are using a license that hasnt been assigned an spdx identifier, or if you are using a custom license, use the following valid spdx expression. The spdx license list is a list of commonly found licenses and exceptions used in free and open source and other collaborative software or documentation. Which spdx license is equivalent to all rights reserved. An insight into license tools for open source software systems. What proprietary license do i use when prompted by the npm init.
License embedded software update documentation 2019. According to the new npm specification you can use license. Spdx a format for open source software license compliance. Spdx the software package data exchange spdx specification is a standard format used to describe the components, licenses and s associated with software packages. Opensource licenses come in a lot of flavours like weak and strong copyleft or permissive software licenses. The reasons for this are varied, but the core reason is very simple. Ideally, the license terms of all files in the source tree should be defined by such license identifiers. The spdx file analysis info package info licensing info file info associates spdx file with a software package tarball, zip, archive license associated with each file.
Spdx aims to make sharing and auditing license data easy, especially for users of opensource software. The value of license must either one of the options above or the identifier for the license from this list of spdx licenses. Spdx license list software package data exchange spdx. Also, it is a good practice to specify a valid spdx expression in your.
Who cares about software package data exchange formats. Get pricing and licensing information for matlab and simulink. It follows spdx matching guidelines to keep the substantial text as well as ignore the replaceable text for matching purposes. Licensee matches the contents of a projects license file if it exists against a short list of known licenses. Spdx provides a format for listing the specific license variant and version that applies to a software package.
The license expression syntax permits references to a single license represented by a short form license id from the spdx license list or a compound set of licenses represented by joining together multiple. Packagist maintenance and hosting is provided by private packagist. Basically, you can do whatever you want as long as you include the original and license statements. The spdx license list is a list of commonly foundlicenses and exceptions used in free and open source and other collaborative software or documentation. The effort to add spdx identifiers to the kernel has been playing out, mostly in private. The spdx standard aids compliance with free and open source software licenses by standardizing the way license information is shared between developers and companies. A great many files in the kernel source tree carry no license text at all. Spdx software package data exchange licenses list and validation library. Spdx reduces redundant work by providing a common format for companies and communities to share important data about software licenses, s, and security references, thereby streamlining and improving compliance.
Spdx seems to be a way to describe the licensing of software components, to help with open source compliance. See license in and unlicensed now banned, and no spdx. Jul 12, 2015 see license in and unlicensed now banned, and no spdx license for proprietary software. Full name, short identifier, notes, url, whether osi. Last time, i mentioned license attribution for oer figures as tedious challenge, which i believe to be addressed properly in emacsreveal. Licenseref license then include a license file at the top level of. Its not just software development managers and lawyers who care about having a standardized approach to software license compliance.