cachepc-linux

Fork of AMDESE/linux with modifications for CachePC side-channel attack
git clone https://git.sinitax.com/sinitax/cachepc-linux
Log | Files | Refs | README | LICENSE | sfeed.txt

license-rules.rst (18024B)


      1.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
      2
      3.. _kernel_licensing:
      4
      5Linux kernel licensing rules
      6============================
      7
      8The Linux Kernel is provided under the terms of the GNU General Public
      9License version 2 only (GPL-2.0), as provided in LICENSES/preferred/GPL-2.0,
     10with an explicit syscall exception described in
     11LICENSES/exceptions/Linux-syscall-note, as described in the COPYING file.
     12
     13This documentation file provides a description of how each source file
     14should be annotated to make its license clear and unambiguous.
     15It doesn't replace the Kernel's license.
     16
     17The license described in the COPYING file applies to the kernel source
     18as a whole, though individual source files can have a different license
     19which is required to be compatible with the GPL-2.0::
     20
     21    GPL-1.0+  :  GNU General Public License v1.0 or later
     22    GPL-2.0+  :  GNU General Public License v2.0 or later
     23    LGPL-2.0  :  GNU Library General Public License v2 only
     24    LGPL-2.0+ :  GNU Library General Public License v2 or later
     25    LGPL-2.1  :  GNU Lesser General Public License v2.1 only
     26    LGPL-2.1+ :  GNU Lesser General Public License v2.1 or later
     27
     28Aside from that, individual files can be provided under a dual license,
     29e.g. one of the compatible GPL variants and alternatively under a
     30permissive license like BSD, MIT etc.
     31
     32The User-space API (UAPI) header files, which describe the interface of
     33user-space programs to the kernel are a special case.  According to the
     34note in the kernel COPYING file, the syscall interface is a clear boundary,
     35which does not extend the GPL requirements to any software which uses it to
     36communicate with the kernel.  Because the UAPI headers must be includable
     37into any source files which create an executable running on the Linux
     38kernel, the exception must be documented by a special license expression.
     39
     40The common way of expressing the license of a source file is to add the
     41matching boilerplate text into the top comment of the file.  Due to
     42formatting, typos etc. these "boilerplates" are hard to validate for
     43tools which are used in the context of license compliance.
     44
     45An alternative to boilerplate text is the use of Software Package Data
     46Exchange (SPDX) license identifiers in each source file.  SPDX license
     47identifiers are machine parsable and precise shorthands for the license
     48under which the content of the file is contributed.  SPDX license
     49identifiers are managed by the SPDX Workgroup at the Linux Foundation and
     50have been agreed on by partners throughout the industry, tool vendors, and
     51legal teams.  For further information see https://spdx.org/
     52
     53The Linux kernel requires the precise SPDX identifier in all source files.
     54The valid identifiers used in the kernel are explained in the section
     55`License identifiers`_ and have been retrieved from the official SPDX
     56license list at https://spdx.org/licenses/ along with the license texts.
     57
     58License identifier syntax
     59-------------------------
     60
     611. Placement:
     62
     63   The SPDX license identifier in kernel files shall be added at the first
     64   possible line in a file which can contain a comment.  For the majority
     65   of files this is the first line, except for scripts which require the
     66   '#!PATH_TO_INTERPRETER' in the first line.  For those scripts the SPDX
     67   identifier goes into the second line.
     68
     69|
     70
     712. Style:
     72
     73   The SPDX license identifier is added in form of a comment.  The comment
     74   style depends on the file type::
     75
     76      C source:	// SPDX-License-Identifier: <SPDX License Expression>
     77      C header:	/* SPDX-License-Identifier: <SPDX License Expression> */
     78      ASM:	/* SPDX-License-Identifier: <SPDX License Expression> */
     79      scripts:	# SPDX-License-Identifier: <SPDX License Expression>
     80      .rst:	.. SPDX-License-Identifier: <SPDX License Expression>
     81      .dts{i}:	// SPDX-License-Identifier: <SPDX License Expression>
     82
     83   If a specific tool cannot handle the standard comment style, then the
     84   appropriate comment mechanism which the tool accepts shall be used. This
     85   is the reason for having the "/\* \*/" style comment in C header
     86   files. There was build breakage observed with generated .lds files where
     87   'ld' failed to parse the C++ comment. This has been fixed by now, but
     88   there are still older assembler tools which cannot handle C++ style
     89   comments.
     90
     91|
     92
     933. Syntax:
     94
     95   A <SPDX License Expression> is either an SPDX short form license
     96   identifier found on the SPDX License List, or the combination of two
     97   SPDX short form license identifiers separated by "WITH" when a license
     98   exception applies. When multiple licenses apply, an expression consists
     99   of keywords "AND", "OR" separating sub-expressions and surrounded by
    100   "(", ")" .
    101
    102   License identifiers for licenses like [L]GPL with the 'or later' option
    103   are constructed by using a "+" for indicating the 'or later' option.::
    104
    105      // SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0+
    106      // SPDX-License-Identifier: LGPL-2.1+
    107
    108   WITH should be used when there is a modifier to a license needed.
    109   For example, the linux kernel UAPI files use the expression::
    110
    111      // SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 WITH Linux-syscall-note
    112      // SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0+ WITH Linux-syscall-note
    113
    114   Other examples using WITH exceptions found in the kernel are::
    115
    116      // SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 WITH mif-exception
    117      // SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0+ WITH GCC-exception-2.0
    118
    119   Exceptions can only be used with particular License identifiers. The
    120   valid License identifiers are listed in the tags of the exception text
    121   file. For details see the point `Exceptions`_ in the chapter `License
    122   identifiers`_.
    123
    124   OR should be used if the file is dual licensed and only one license is
    125   to be selected.  For example, some dtsi files are available under dual
    126   licenses::
    127
    128      // SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 OR BSD-3-Clause
    129
    130   Examples from the kernel for license expressions in dual licensed files::
    131
    132      // SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 OR MIT
    133      // SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 OR BSD-2-Clause
    134      // SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 OR Apache-2.0
    135      // SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 OR MPL-1.1
    136      // SPDX-License-Identifier: (GPL-2.0 WITH Linux-syscall-note) OR MIT
    137      // SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-1.0+ OR BSD-3-Clause OR OpenSSL
    138
    139   AND should be used if the file has multiple licenses whose terms all
    140   apply to use the file. For example, if code is inherited from another
    141   project and permission has been given to put it in the kernel, but the
    142   original license terms need to remain in effect::
    143
    144      // SPDX-License-Identifier: (GPL-2.0 WITH Linux-syscall-note) AND MIT
    145
    146   Another other example where both sets of license terms need to be
    147   adhered to is::
    148
    149      // SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-1.0+ AND LGPL-2.1+
    150
    151License identifiers
    152-------------------
    153
    154The licenses currently used, as well as the licenses for code added to the
    155kernel, can be broken down into:
    156
    1571. _`Preferred licenses`:
    158
    159   Whenever possible these licenses should be used as they are known to be
    160   fully compatible and widely used.  These licenses are available from the
    161   directory::
    162
    163      LICENSES/preferred/
    164
    165   in the kernel source tree.
    166
    167   The files in this directory contain the full license text and
    168   `Metatags`_.  The file names are identical to the SPDX license
    169   identifier which shall be used for the license in source files.
    170
    171   Examples::
    172
    173      LICENSES/preferred/GPL-2.0
    174
    175   Contains the GPL version 2 license text and the required metatags::
    176
    177      LICENSES/preferred/MIT
    178
    179   Contains the MIT license text and the required metatags
    180
    181   _`Metatags`:
    182
    183   The following meta tags must be available in a license file:
    184
    185   - Valid-License-Identifier:
    186
    187     One or more lines which declare which License Identifiers are valid
    188     inside the project to reference this particular license text.  Usually
    189     this is a single valid identifier, but e.g. for licenses with the 'or
    190     later' options two identifiers are valid.
    191
    192   - SPDX-URL:
    193
    194     The URL of the SPDX page which contains additional information related
    195     to the license.
    196
    197   - Usage-Guidance:
    198
    199     Freeform text for usage advice. The text must include correct examples
    200     for the SPDX license identifiers as they should be put into source
    201     files according to the `License identifier syntax`_ guidelines.
    202
    203   - License-Text:
    204
    205     All text after this tag is treated as the original license text
    206
    207   File format examples::
    208
    209      Valid-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
    210      Valid-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0+
    211      SPDX-URL: https://spdx.org/licenses/GPL-2.0.html
    212      Usage-Guide:
    213        To use this license in source code, put one of the following SPDX
    214	tag/value pairs into a comment according to the placement
    215	guidelines in the licensing rules documentation.
    216	For 'GNU General Public License (GPL) version 2 only' use:
    217	  SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
    218	For 'GNU General Public License (GPL) version 2 or any later version' use:
    219	  SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0+
    220      License-Text:
    221        Full license text
    222
    223   ::
    224
    225      SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
    226      SPDX-URL: https://spdx.org/licenses/MIT.html
    227      Usage-Guide:
    228	To use this license in source code, put the following SPDX
    229	tag/value pair into a comment according to the placement
    230	guidelines in the licensing rules documentation.
    231	  SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
    232      License-Text:
    233        Full license text
    234
    235|
    236
    2372. Deprecated licenses:
    238
    239   These licenses should only be used for existing code or for importing
    240   code from a different project.  These licenses are available from the
    241   directory::
    242
    243      LICENSES/deprecated/
    244
    245   in the kernel source tree.
    246
    247   The files in this directory contain the full license text and
    248   `Metatags`_.  The file names are identical to the SPDX license
    249   identifier which shall be used for the license in source files.
    250
    251   Examples::
    252
    253      LICENSES/deprecated/ISC
    254
    255   Contains the Internet Systems Consortium license text and the required
    256   metatags::
    257
    258      LICENSES/deprecated/GPL-1.0
    259
    260   Contains the GPL version 1 license text and the required metatags.
    261
    262   Metatags:
    263
    264   The metatag requirements for 'other' licenses are identical to the
    265   requirements of the `Preferred licenses`_.
    266
    267   File format example::
    268
    269      Valid-License-Identifier: ISC
    270      SPDX-URL: https://spdx.org/licenses/ISC.html
    271      Usage-Guide:
    272        Usage of this license in the kernel for new code is discouraged
    273	and it should solely be used for importing code from an already
    274	existing project.
    275        To use this license in source code, put the following SPDX
    276	tag/value pair into a comment according to the placement
    277	guidelines in the licensing rules documentation.
    278	  SPDX-License-Identifier: ISC
    279      License-Text:
    280        Full license text
    281
    282|
    283
    2843. Dual Licensing Only
    285
    286   These licenses should only be used to dual license code with another
    287   license in addition to a preferred license.  These licenses are available
    288   from the directory::
    289
    290      LICENSES/dual/
    291
    292   in the kernel source tree.
    293
    294   The files in this directory contain the full license text and
    295   `Metatags`_.  The file names are identical to the SPDX license
    296   identifier which shall be used for the license in source files.
    297
    298   Examples::
    299
    300      LICENSES/dual/MPL-1.1
    301
    302   Contains the Mozilla Public License version 1.1 license text and the
    303   required metatags::
    304
    305      LICENSES/dual/Apache-2.0
    306
    307   Contains the Apache License version 2.0 license text and the required
    308   metatags.
    309
    310   Metatags:
    311
    312   The metatag requirements for 'other' licenses are identical to the
    313   requirements of the `Preferred licenses`_.
    314
    315   File format example::
    316
    317      Valid-License-Identifier: MPL-1.1
    318      SPDX-URL: https://spdx.org/licenses/MPL-1.1.html
    319      Usage-Guide:
    320        Do NOT use. The MPL-1.1 is not GPL2 compatible. It may only be used for
    321        dual-licensed files where the other license is GPL2 compatible.
    322        If you end up using this it MUST be used together with a GPL2 compatible
    323        license using "OR".
    324        To use the Mozilla Public License version 1.1 put the following SPDX
    325        tag/value pair into a comment according to the placement guidelines in
    326        the licensing rules documentation:
    327      SPDX-License-Identifier: MPL-1.1
    328      License-Text:
    329        Full license text
    330
    331|
    332
    3334. _`Exceptions`:
    334
    335   Some licenses can be amended with exceptions which grant certain rights
    336   which the original license does not.  These exceptions are available
    337   from the directory::
    338
    339      LICENSES/exceptions/
    340
    341   in the kernel source tree.  The files in this directory contain the full
    342   exception text and the required `Exception Metatags`_.
    343
    344   Examples::
    345
    346      LICENSES/exceptions/Linux-syscall-note
    347
    348   Contains the Linux syscall exception as documented in the COPYING
    349   file of the Linux kernel, which is used for UAPI header files.
    350   e.g. /\* SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 WITH Linux-syscall-note \*/::
    351
    352      LICENSES/exceptions/GCC-exception-2.0
    353
    354   Contains the GCC 'linking exception' which allows to link any binary
    355   independent of its license against the compiled version of a file marked
    356   with this exception. This is required for creating runnable executables
    357   from source code which is not compatible with the GPL.
    358
    359   _`Exception Metatags`:
    360
    361   The following meta tags must be available in an exception file:
    362
    363   - SPDX-Exception-Identifier:
    364
    365     One exception identifier which can be used with SPDX license
    366     identifiers.
    367
    368   - SPDX-URL:
    369
    370     The URL of the SPDX page which contains additional information related
    371     to the exception.
    372
    373   - SPDX-Licenses:
    374
    375     A comma separated list of SPDX license identifiers for which the
    376     exception can be used.
    377
    378   - Usage-Guidance:
    379
    380     Freeform text for usage advice. The text must be followed by correct
    381     examples for the SPDX license identifiers as they should be put into
    382     source files according to the `License identifier syntax`_ guidelines.
    383
    384   - Exception-Text:
    385
    386     All text after this tag is treated as the original exception text
    387
    388   File format examples::
    389
    390      SPDX-Exception-Identifier: Linux-syscall-note
    391      SPDX-URL: https://spdx.org/licenses/Linux-syscall-note.html
    392      SPDX-Licenses: GPL-2.0, GPL-2.0+, GPL-1.0+, LGPL-2.0, LGPL-2.0+, LGPL-2.1, LGPL-2.1+
    393      Usage-Guidance:
    394        This exception is used together with one of the above SPDX-Licenses
    395	to mark user-space API (uapi) header files so they can be included
    396	into non GPL compliant user-space application code.
    397        To use this exception add it with the keyword WITH to one of the
    398	identifiers in the SPDX-Licenses tag:
    399	  SPDX-License-Identifier: <SPDX-License> WITH Linux-syscall-note
    400      Exception-Text:
    401        Full exception text
    402
    403   ::
    404
    405      SPDX-Exception-Identifier: GCC-exception-2.0
    406      SPDX-URL: https://spdx.org/licenses/GCC-exception-2.0.html
    407      SPDX-Licenses: GPL-2.0, GPL-2.0+
    408      Usage-Guidance:
    409        The "GCC Runtime Library exception 2.0" is used together with one
    410	of the above SPDX-Licenses for code imported from the GCC runtime
    411	library.
    412        To use this exception add it with the keyword WITH to one of the
    413	identifiers in the SPDX-Licenses tag:
    414	  SPDX-License-Identifier: <SPDX-License> WITH GCC-exception-2.0
    415      Exception-Text:
    416        Full exception text
    417
    418
    419All SPDX license identifiers and exceptions must have a corresponding file
    420in the LICENSES subdirectories. This is required to allow tool
    421verification (e.g. checkpatch.pl) and to have the licenses ready to read
    422and extract right from the source, which is recommended by various FOSS
    423organizations, e.g. the `FSFE REUSE initiative <https://reuse.software/>`_.
    424
    425_`MODULE_LICENSE`
    426-----------------
    427
    428   Loadable kernel modules also require a MODULE_LICENSE() tag. This tag is
    429   neither a replacement for proper source code license information
    430   (SPDX-License-Identifier) nor in any way relevant for expressing or
    431   determining the exact license under which the source code of the module
    432   is provided.
    433
    434   The sole purpose of this tag is to provide sufficient information
    435   whether the module is free software or proprietary for the kernel
    436   module loader and for user space tools.
    437
    438   The valid license strings for MODULE_LICENSE() are:
    439
    440    ============================= =============================================
    441    "GPL"			  Module is licensed under GPL version 2. This
    442				  does not express any distinction between
    443				  GPL-2.0-only or GPL-2.0-or-later. The exact
    444				  license information can only be determined
    445				  via the license information in the
    446				  corresponding source files.
    447
    448    "GPL v2"			  Same as "GPL". It exists for historic
    449				  reasons.
    450
    451    "GPL and additional rights"   Historical variant of expressing that the
    452				  module source is dual licensed under a
    453				  GPL v2 variant and MIT license. Please do
    454				  not use in new code.
    455
    456    "Dual MIT/GPL"		  The correct way of expressing that the
    457				  module is dual licensed under a GPL v2
    458				  variant or MIT license choice.
    459
    460    "Dual BSD/GPL"		  The module is dual licensed under a GPL v2
    461				  variant or BSD license choice. The exact
    462				  variant of the BSD license can only be
    463				  determined via the license information
    464				  in the corresponding source files.
    465
    466    "Dual MPL/GPL"		  The module is dual licensed under a GPL v2
    467				  variant or Mozilla Public License (MPL)
    468				  choice. The exact variant of the MPL
    469				  license can only be determined via the
    470				  license information in the corresponding
    471				  source files.
    472
    473    "Proprietary"		  The module is under a proprietary license.
    474				  This string is solely for proprietary third
    475				  party modules and cannot be used for modules
    476				  which have their source code in the kernel
    477				  tree. Modules tagged that way are tainting
    478				  the kernel with the 'P' flag when loaded and
    479				  the kernel module loader refuses to link such
    480				  modules against symbols which are exported
    481				  with EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL().
    482    ============================= =============================================
    483
    484
    485