glibc-2.35-0ubuntu3 library in Ubuntu 22.04 include GPLv2 header file

glibc-2.35-0ubuntu3 library in Ubuntu 22.04 include GPLv2 header file

[Hiroaki.Fuse]

Dear all members,

I use Ubuntu 22.04 distribution for development.
While checking glibc license, I found that the license of following file is GPLv2

  - glibc-2.35-0ubuntu3/include/programs/xmalloc.h

This file was created by following commit to original git repository. (2013-02-18)

  - https://sourceware.org/git/?p=glibc.git;a=commitdiff;h=6ff444c4184433586a8879376bd5006eb793499a

And "nss/nss_module.c" in glibc-2.35 includes "nscd/nscd.h" and "nscd/nscd.h" includes "include/programs/xmalloc.h"

nss/nss_module.c
  - https://sourceware.org/git/?p=glibc.git;a=blob;f=nss/nss_module.c;h=f00bbd9e1ad255538526778a8ae732c9d8c64320;hb=refs/heads/release/2.35/master
nscd/nscd.h
  - https://sourceware.org/git/?p=glibc.git;a=blob;f=nscd/nscd.h;h=f15321585b379b1c494b5688578f22d11761408a;hb=refs/heads/release/2.35/master

This mean that the license of "nss/nss_modules.c" is also GPLv2.

Because "libc.so.6" links the "nss/nss_modules.o", glibc-2.35-0ubuntu3 in Ubuntu 22.04 is also GPLv2.
I am confused because "glibc-2.35-0ubuntu3/README" in source code says following sentence.

  The GNU C Library is free software. See the file COPYING.LIB for copying
  conditions, and LICENSES for notices about a few contributions that require
  these additional notices to be distributed. License copyright years may be
  listed using range notation, e.g., 1996-2015, indicating that every year in
  the range, inclusive, is a copyrightable year that would otherwise be listed
  individually.

COPYING.LIB file is LGPLv2.1

I also checked the history of "nss/nss_module.c" and found following commit. (2020-12-04)

  - https://sourceware.org/git/?p=glibc.git;a=commitdiff;h=f8847d83e17774ed5e9c0f75ef693680b91bcae4

Before above commit "nss/nss_module.c" did not include "nscd/nscd.h". In this case glibc is LGPLv2.1 .

I want to know the glibc maintainers opinions.

Regards,

Re: glibc-2.35-0ubuntu3 library in Ubuntu 22.04 include GPLv2 header file

[Florian Weimer]

* Hiroaki Fuse:

> I also checked the history of "nss/nss_module.c" and found following
> commit. (2020-12-04)
>
>   - https://sourceware.org/git/?p=glibc.git;a=commitdiff;h=f8847d83e17774ed5e9c0f75ef693680b91bcae4
>
> Before above commit "nss/nss_module.c" did not include
> "nscd/nscd.h". In this case glibc is LGPLv2.1 .

I should be able to post a patch later today.  It's relatively easy to
change, certainly easier than getting consensus whether the change is
actually necessary. 8-)

(This dependency has been there for much longer, but perhaps harder to
discover.)

Thanks,
Florian