Re: OSI Adopts SPDX IDs for License URLs
Nick Vidal <[email protected]> Tue, 10 Mar 2026 20:52:34 -0300
| Newsgroups | gmane.comp.licenses.open-source.general |
|---|---|
| Message-ID | <CAFifBTqmVHvkus3Urtmpy7RsPXDh=L8wpyo8=YGeXLf2VCcVHw@mail.gmail.com> |
--===============3790964375644668820== Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="000000000000cb5e7c064cb438bf" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit --000000000000cb5e7c064cb438bf Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Thanks Simon and Richard for the guidance. Now "zGPL-X.Y-only" and "zGPL-X.Y-or-later" will redirect to "zGPL-X.Y" On Tue, Mar 10, 2026 at 7:28=E2=80=AFPM Simon Phipps <[email protected]> wr= ote: > I agree with Richard here. The -only and -or-later variants are all > deployment options for the GPL licenses and do not reflect the licenses > that OSI has actually approved, which embrace both variants. > > Simon > (in a personal capacity) > > On Tue, Mar 10, 2026 at 9:00=E2=80=AFPM Richard Fontana via License-discu= ss < > [email protected]> wrote: > >> I agree with the comment. SPDX's replacement of GPL-2.0/GPL-2.0+ with >> "GPL-2.0-only"/"GPL-2.0-or-later" (etc.) (at the instigation of the >> FSF) has been pretty much a complete debacle IMO, but "GPL-2.0" >> continues to be a valid SPDX identifier and I think it is usefully >> used for things like this where the license is one level of >> abstraction removed from its actual application to some sort of >> licensable material. >> >> Richard >> >> On Tue, Mar 10, 2026 at 11:19=E2=80=AFAM Nick Vidal <nick.vidal@opensour= ce.org> >> wrote: >> > >> > Cross posting comment from ferdnyc at >> https://github.com/spdx/license-list-XML/issues/2959#issuecomment-401834= 1555 >> > >> > I wanted to bring up the GPL specifically: I notice that OSI is listin= g >> all of the GPL versions as "GPL-X.Y-only" (and in fact, URLs like >> https://opensource.org/license/GPL-3.0-or-later result in a 404 error), >> but the license text displayed at >> https://opensource.org/license/GPL-3.0-only has a "How to Apply These >> Terms..." section that includes the "either version 3 of the License, or >> (at your option) any later version." text, making it appear to be >> GPL-3.0-or-later. >> > >> > (In truth, AIUI the FSF doesn't differentiate between GPL-3.0-only and >> GPL-3.0-or-later themselves, the difference is in how you choose to appl= y >> the license to your work. But in light of that, calling the license >> "GPL-3.0-only" doesn't appear to be correct... it's either just "GPL-3.0= ", >> or it's "GPL-3.0-or-later" (as it allows for the "any later version" >> stipulation, or it's BOTH.) >> > >> > On Tue, Mar 10, 2026 at 9:16=E2=80=AFAM Nick Vidal <nick.vidal@opensou= rce.org> >> wrote: >> >> >> >> Hi everyone, >> >> >> >> The OSI is looking for feedback from the community about an important >> change to the OSI-Approved licenses listed on our website. >> >> >> >> We've standardized OSI license URLs using SPDX identifiers, while >> carefully preserving compatibility with the many links that already exis= t >> across the web and tools. >> >> >> >> The full set of OSI-approved licenses continues to be available at: >> >> >> >> https://opensource.org/licenses >> >> >> >> More details about the update is available here: >> >> >> >> https://opensource.org/blog/osi-adopts-spdx-ids-for-license-urls >> >> >> >> If you spot any broken links or odd behaviour, please let us know. >> >> >> >> Feel free to reach out to us by replying to this mailing list or by >> commenting here: >> >> >> >> https://github.com/spdx/license-list-XML/issues/2959 >> >> >> >> Thanks, >> >> Nick >> > >> > _______________________________________________ >> > The opinions expressed in this email are those of the sender and not >> necessarily those of the Open Source Initiative. Official statements by = the >> Open Source Initiative will be sent from an opensource.org email address= . >> > >> > License-discuss mailing list >> > [email protected] >> > >> http://lists.opensource.org/mailman/listinfo/license-discuss_lists.opens= ource.org >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> The opinions expressed in this email are those of the sender and not >> necessarily those of the Open Source Initiative. Official statements by = the >> Open Source Initiative will be sent from an opensource.org email address= . >> >> License-discuss mailing list >> [email protected] >> >> http://lists.opensource.org/mailman/listinfo/license-discuss_lists.opens= ource.org >> > _______________________________________________ > The opinions expressed in this email are those of the sender and not > necessarily those of the Open Source Initiative. Official statements by t= he > Open Source Initiative will be sent from an opensource.org email address. > > License-discuss mailing list > [email protected] > > http://lists.opensource.org/mailman/listinfo/license-discuss_lists.openso= urce.org > --000000000000cb5e7c064cb438bf Content-Type: text/html; charset="UTF-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable <div dir=3D"ltr">Thanks Simon and Richard for the guidance.<div><br></div><= div>Now "zGPL-X.Y-only" and "zGPL-X.Y-or-later" will re= direct=C2=A0to "zGPL-X.Y"</div></div><br><div class=3D"gmail_quot= e gmail_quote_container"><div dir=3D"ltr" class=3D"gmail_attr">On Tue, Mar = 10, 2026 at 7:28=E2=80=AFPM Simon Phipps <<a href=3D"mailto:simon@webmin= k.net">[email protected]</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class=3D"gmail= _quote" style=3D"margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204= ,204);padding-left:1ex"><div dir=3D"ltr">I agree with Richard here. The -on= ly and -or-later variants are all deployment options for the GPL licenses a= nd do not reflect the licenses that OSI has actually approved, which embrac= e both variants.<div><br></div><div>Simon</div><div>(in a personal capacity= )</div></div><br><div class=3D"gmail_quote"><div dir=3D"ltr" class=3D"gmail= _attr">On Tue, Mar 10, 2026 at 9:00=E2=80=AFPM Richard Fontana via License-= discuss <<a href=3D"mailto:[email protected]" target= =3D"_blank">[email protected]</a>> wrote:<br></div><b= lockquote class=3D"gmail_quote" style=3D"margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-le= ft:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">I agree with the comment. S= PDX's replacement of GPL-2.0/GPL-2.0+ with<br> "GPL-2.0-only"/"GPL-2.0-or-later" (etc.) (at the instig= ation of the<br> FSF) has been pretty much a complete debacle IMO, but "GPL-2.0"<b= r> continues to be a valid SPDX identifier and I think it is usefully<br> used for things like this where the license is one level of<br> abstraction removed from its actual application to some sort of<br> licensable material.<br> <br> Richard<br> <br> On Tue, Mar 10, 2026 at 11:19=E2=80=AFAM Nick Vidal <<a href=3D"mailto:n= [email protected]" target=3D"_blank">[email protected]</a>&g= t; wrote:<br> ><br> > Cross posting comment from ferdnyc at <a href=3D"https://github.com/sp= dx/license-list-XML/issues/2959#issuecomment-4018341555" rel=3D"noreferrer"= target=3D"_blank">https://github.com/spdx/license-list-XML/issues/2959#iss= uecomment-4018341555</a><br> ><br> > I wanted to bring up the GPL specifically: I notice that OSI is listin= g all of the GPL versions as "GPL-X.Y-only" (and in fact, URLs li= ke <a href=3D"https://opensource.org/license/GPL-3.0-or-later" rel=3D"noref= errer" target=3D"_blank">https://opensource.org/license/GPL-3.0-or-later</a= > result in a 404 error), but the license text displayed at <a href=3D"http= s://opensource.org/license/GPL-3.0-only" rel=3D"noreferrer" target=3D"_blan= k">https://opensource.org/license/GPL-3.0-only</a> has a "How to Apply= These Terms..." section that includes the "either version 3 of t= he License, or (at your option) any later version." text, making it ap= pear to be GPL-3.0-or-later.<br> ><br> > (In truth, AIUI the FSF doesn't differentiate between GPL-3.0-only= and GPL-3.0-or-later themselves, the difference is in how you choose to ap= ply the license to your work. But in light of that, calling the license &qu= ot;GPL-3.0-only" doesn't appear to be correct... it's either j= ust "GPL-3.0", or it's "GPL-3.0-or-later" (as it al= lows for the "any later version" stipulation, or it's BOTH.)<= br> ><br> > On Tue, Mar 10, 2026 at 9:16=E2=80=AFAM Nick Vidal <<a href=3D"mail= to:[email protected]" target=3D"_blank">[email protected]</= a>> wrote:<br> >><br> >> Hi everyone,<br> >><br> >> The OSI is looking for feedback from the community about an import= ant change to the OSI-Approved licenses listed on our website.<br> >><br> >> We've standardized OSI license URLs using SPDX identifiers, wh= ile carefully preserving compatibility with the many links that already exi= st across the web and tools.<br> >><br> >> The full set of OSI-approved licenses continues to be available at= :<br> >><br> >> <a href=3D"https://opensource.org/licenses" rel=3D"noreferrer" tar= get=3D"_blank">https://opensource.org/licenses</a><br> >><br> >> More details about the update is available here:<br> >><br> >> <a href=3D"https://opensource.org/blog/osi-adopts-spdx-ids-for-lic= ense-urls" rel=3D"noreferrer" target=3D"_blank">https://opensource.org/blog= /osi-adopts-spdx-ids-for-license-urls</a><br> >><br> >> If you spot any broken links or odd behaviour, please let us know.= <br> >><br> >> Feel free to reach out to us by replying to this mailing list or b= y commenting here:<br> >><br> >> <a href=3D"https://github.com/spdx/license-list-XML/issues/2959" r= el=3D"noreferrer" target=3D"_blank">https://github.com/spdx/license-list-XM= L/issues/2959</a><br> >><br> >> Thanks,<br> >> Nick<br> ><br> > _______________________________________________<br> > The opinions expressed in this email are those of the sender and not n= ecessarily those of the Open Source Initiative. Official statements by the = Open Source Initiative will be sent from an <a href=3D"http://opensource.or= g" rel=3D"noreferrer" target=3D"_blank">opensource.org</a> email address.<b= r> ><br> > License-discuss mailing list<br> > <a href=3D"mailto:[email protected]" target=3D"_bla= nk">[email protected]</a><br> > <a href=3D"http://lists.opensource.org/mailman/listinfo/license-discus= s_lists.opensource.org" rel=3D"noreferrer" target=3D"_blank">http://lists.o= pensource.org/mailman/listinfo/license-discuss_lists.opensource.org</a><br> <br> <br> _______________________________________________<br> The opinions expressed in this email are those of the sender and not necess= arily those of the Open Source Initiative. Official statements by the Open = Source Initiative will be sent from an <a href=3D"http://opensource.org" re= l=3D"noreferrer" target=3D"_blank">opensource.org</a> email address.<br> <br> License-discuss mailing list<br> <a href=3D"mailto:[email protected]" target=3D"_blank">L= [email protected]</a><br> <a href=3D"http://lists.opensource.org/mailman/listinfo/license-discuss_lis= ts.opensource.org" rel=3D"noreferrer" target=3D"_blank">http://lists.openso= urce.org/mailman/listinfo/license-discuss_lists.opensource.org</a><br> </blockquote></div> _______________________________________________<br> The opinions expressed in this email are those of the sender and not necess= arily those of the Open Source Initiative. Official statements by the Open = Source Initiative will be sent from an <a href=3D"http://opensource.org" re= l=3D"noreferrer" target=3D"_blank">opensource.org</a> email address.<br> <br> License-discuss mailing list<br> <a href=3D"mailto:[email protected]" target=3D"_blank">L= [email protected]</a><br> <a href=3D"http://lists.opensource.org/mailman/listinfo/license-discuss_lis= ts.opensource.org" rel=3D"noreferrer" target=3D"_blank">http://lists.openso= urce.org/mailman/listinfo/license-discuss_lists.opensource.org</a><br> </blockquote></div> --000000000000cb5e7c064cb438bf-- --===============3790964375644668820== Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64 Content-Disposition: inline X19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX18KVGhlIG9waW5p b25zIGV4cHJlc3NlZCBpbiB0aGlzIGVtYWlsIGFyZSB0aG9zZSBvZiB0aGUgc2VuZGVyIGFuZCBu b3QgbmVjZXNzYXJpbHkgdGhvc2Ugb2YgdGhlIE9wZW4gU291cmNlIEluaXRpYXRpdmUuIE9mZmlj aWFsIHN0YXRlbWVudHMgYnkgdGhlIE9wZW4gU291cmNlIEluaXRpYXRpdmUgd2lsbCBiZSBzZW50 IGZyb20gYW4gb3BlbnNvdXJjZS5vcmcgZW1haWwgYWRkcmVzcy4KCkxpY2Vuc2UtZGlzY3VzcyBt YWlsaW5nIGxpc3QKTGljZW5zZS1kaXNjdXNzQGxpc3RzLm9wZW5zb3VyY2Uub3JnCmh0dHA6Ly9s aXN0cy5vcGVuc291cmNlLm9yZy9tYWlsbWFuL2xpc3RpbmZvL2xpY2Vuc2UtZGlzY3Vzc19saXN0 cy5vcGVuc291cmNlLm9yZwo= --===============3790964375644668820==--