Where are the licence texts for each package?

Where are the licence texts for each package?

[Marvin]

Is there any definitive way to view precisely what licenses Cygwin and it's packages are shipped under?

To be allowed to download/use Cygwin at work we need to be able to present the license(s) to our legal team.
The licensing page is too vague for them :
"Most of the tools are covered by the GNU GPL, some are public domain, and others have a X11 style copyright."

Specifically is there any official clarification of the "X11 style copyright"?   The link from http://x.cygwin.com/docs/faq/cygwin-x-faq.html#q-what-licenses-apply
is broken.

It would be really helpful if there was a link to the license(s) next to the download links, and if there was a page listing every package with a link to that packages license.

I know this seems like a silly question, I know all the licences would allow us to use cygwin for what we want, we're not planning to view its source or build anything with it or redistribute any part of it, but we still need to be able to show our lawyers the licenses. We don't need comercial support and am happy to be bound by the normal licenses.

Thanks for any help.


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Re: Where are the licence texts for each package?

[Corinna Vinschen]

On Aug  7 14:07, Marvin wrote:
> Is there any definitive way to view precisely what licenses Cygwin and it's packages are shipped under?

The definitve way is to look into the sources.

> Specifically is there any official clarification of the "X11 style copyright"?   The link from http://x.cygwin.com/docs/faq/cygwin-x-faq.html#q-what-licenses-apply
> is broken.

The X license is available via the Open Source Group, like other approved
licenses: http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php

> It would be really helpful if there was a link to the license(s) next to the download links, and if there was a page listing every package with a link to that packages license.

This is a nice idea but we're most notably lacking man power to
help setting up stuff like that.  The Cygwin net distribution is
a volunteer effort.  If you need something like that, feel free
to contribute.


Corinna

-- 
Corinna Vinschen                  Please, send mails regarding Cygwin to
Cygwin Project Co-Leader          cygwin AT cygwin DOT com
Red Hat

Re: Where are the licence texts for each package?

[Brian Dessent]

Marvin wrote:

> Is there any definitive way to view precisely what licenses Cygwin and it's packages are shipped under?

It's not universal, but many packages list the license in the
Cygwin-specific readme, i.e. /usr/share/doc/Cygwin/*.README.

Brian

Re: Where are the licence texts for each package?

[Christopher Faylor]

On Fri, Aug 08, 2008 at 10:56:11AM +0000, Marvin wrote:
>Thanks for your time answering, I appreciate that OSS is donated to
>the community and is usually supported by volunteers, and am grateful
>for all such software, but by not clearly advertising its licenses 
>Cygwin makes it hard for people and corporations who wish to use the 
>software and respect the licenses.
>
>Corrina wrote:
>>> Is there any definitive way to view precisely what licenses Cygwin
>>> and it's packages are shipped under?
>
>>The definitve way is to look into the sources.
>
>He-he - I have to read the source to find the license so that I can
>find if I'm allowed to download and use the binaries? 
>There's a chicken and egg problem there.

No, actually there's not.  Just go to a mirror site and find the source
code.  Download it, unpack it with some kind of tool that understands
.tar.bz2.  Find the license.

This is, AFAIK, no different than any linux or freebsd distribution.
They don't list the licenses for every single package either.

>I'm asking where the licenses are so I can get legal approval to
>download and use the binary software.

You made that clear in your first message.  No need to rehash it.

>I've already been expressly forbidden to download or read any open
>source code (I'd have thought this was standard practice for any
>software house that didn't release everything under OSS licenses).

That's new.  But, looking for a file called "LICENSE" or "COPYRIGHT" is
not tantamount to reading open source code.

But, bottom line, it sounds like you can't use the software from any
cygwin or linux or freebsd distribution.

cgf

Re: Where are the licence texts for each package?

[Marvin]

Thanks for your time answering, I appreciate that OSS is donated to
the community and is usually supported by volunteers, and am grateful
for all such software, but by not clearly advertising its licenses 
Cygwin makes it hard for people and corporations who wish to use the 
software and respect the licenses.

Corrina wrote:
>> Is there any definitive way to view precisely what licenses Cygwin
>> and it's packages are shipped under?

>The definitve way is to look into the sources.

He-he - I have to read the source to find the license so that I can
find if I'm allowed to download and use the binaries? 
There's a chicken and egg problem there.

I'm asking where the licenses are so I can get legal approval 
to download and use the binary software. I've already been expressly 
forbidden to download or read any open source code (I'd have thought this was standard practice for any software house that didn't release 
everything under OSS licenses).


>> Specifically is there any official clarification of the
>> "X11 style copyright"?   The link from http://x.cygwin.com/docs/faq/cygwin-x-faq.html#q-what-licenses-apply
>> is broken.

> The X license is available via the Open Source Group, like other approved
> licenses: http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php

Thanks but that's titled the "MIT license" - it's not an official looking
explanation of what "X11 style copyright" is used.

I'll point the lawyers at this to try to explain the discrepancy
http://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-list.html#X11License

Again thanks for your time.


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