Re: [RFC] Change EDK II to an Apache 2.0 License

[Mark Kettenis <mark.kettenis@xs4all.nl>]

> From: "Kinney, Michael D" <michael.d.kinney@intel.com>
> Date: Thu, 29 Nov 2018 18:39:28 +0000

As an OpenBSD developer I feel I have to point out that the OpenBSD
project considers Apache 2.0 to be a *restrictive* license.

  http://www.openbsd.org/policy.html

We (currently) don't include EDK II code in the OpenBSD OS itself, but
do support ARM boards that boot using EDK II-based firmware that has
to be included on the same boot media as the OS.  So to license change
would restrict us (the OpenBSD prject) and potentially others from
distributing working boot media for such boards under a "no strings
attached" license.

Personally, I also think clause 4b of the Apache 2.0 license is too
problematic for truly open source software.  Adding the required
notice for every change that is made is obviously unworkable as I've
never seen such notices in modified Apache 2.0 codebases...

All-in-all, from my point of view replacing a simple, easy to
understand, permissive license with a more complicated legal document
that imposes additional restrictions would be a step backwards.  No
doubt Intel's lawyers have a different opinion.

Cheers,

Mark Kettenis

> Hello,
> 
> This RFC follows up on the proposal from Mark Doran to change the 
> EDK II Project to an Apache 2.0 License.
> 
>     https://lists.01.org/pipermail/edk2-devel/2018-October/030385.html
> 
> 
>   ** Please provide feedback on the proposal by Friday 12/7/18. **
> 
> I will be following up with pointers to public GitHub branches that
> contain the initial set of changes in steps (1) and (2) below for 
> review. 
> 
> The proposal is to perform this change to edk2/master in the steps listed
> below. The license change will not be applied to any of the other existing
> branches in the edk2 repository.
> 
> 1) Change all files with a BSD 2-Clause license and only a single 
>    copyright statement by Intel Corporation to an Apache 2.0 license
>    and add an SPDX-License-Identifier statement.
> 
>    ======================================================================
>    SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
> 
>    Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
>    you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
>    You may obtain a copy of the License at
> 
>        http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
> 
>    Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
>    distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
>    WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
>    See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
>    limitations under the License.
>    ======================================================================
> 
> 2) Update Readme.md and License.txt in the root of the edk2 repository to
>    state that content is covered by a mix of BSD 2-Clause and Apache 2.0
>    licenses. 
> 
> 3) Update all documentation to state that content submitted under the 
>    Apache 2.0 license no longer requires the Tianocore Contribution
>    Agreement which means the following line is not required in commit
>    messages for changes to files that are covered by an Apache 2.0 License.
> 
>        Contributed-under: TianoCore Contribution Agreement 1.1
> 
> 4) Create Wiki page(s) that provide the details of the Apache 2.0 License
>    change and provide the status of the license change for each package
>    in the edk2 repository.  Also provide a list of the additional copyright
>    holders that need to be contacted to accept the change to an Apache 2.0
>    License along with the status of that acceptance.
> 
> 5) After all copyright holders have accepted the change to an Apache 2.0
>    License, change the remaining files from BSD 2-Clause to Apache 2.0.
> 
> 6) Update Readme.md and License.txt in the edk2 repository to state that
>    Apache 2.0 is the preferred license for the EDK II project.
> 
> Best regards,
> 
> Mike
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