Re: How to properly handle contradicting licenses in a single file (aclocal.m4)

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These do not appear to be contradictory. At a glance, you can distribute
the file as a whole under the GPLv3+. The other licenses are compatible.

The Apache license might create an issue... Any other licenses present?

As for copyright statements, each one is relevant, each individual
copyright holder retains their rights.

Regards,

Daniel J. Hakimi
B.S. Philosophy, RPI 2012
B.S. Computer Science, RPI 2012
J.D. Cardozo Law 2015

On Wed, Jun 3, 2026, 07:32 Marc Haber <[email protected]> wrote:

> Hi,
>
> aclocal.m4 is obviously built by autotools by concatting segments that
> might have contradicting licenses. For example, the aclocal.m4 of the
> aide package has AT LEAST the following copyright statements in
> different points of the SAME file:
>
> -----
> # Copyright (C) 1996-2025 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
>
> # This file is free software; the Free Software Foundation
> # gives unlimited permission to copy and/or distribute it,
> # with or without modifications, as long as this notice is preserved.
>
> # This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
> # but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law; without
> # even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A
> # PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
> -----
> #   Copyright (c) 2008 Steven G. Johnson <[email protected]>
> #   Copyright (c) 2011 Daniel Richard G. <[email protected]>
> #   Copyright (c) 2019 Marc Stevens <[email protected]>
> #
> #   This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify =
it
> #   under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the
> #   Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at you=
r
> #   option) any later version.
> #
> #   This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
> #   WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
> #   MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU
> General
> #   Public License for more details.
> -----
> dnl Copyright =C2=A9 2004 Scott James Remnant <[email protected]>.
> dnl Copyright =C2=A9 2012-2015 Dan Nicholson <[email protected]>
> dnl
> dnl This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
> dnl it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
> dnl the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
> dnl (at your option) any later version.
> dnl
> dnl This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
> dnl WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
> dnl MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU
> dnl General Public License for more details.
> -----
>
> What is the way to write this in debian/copyright?
>
> Greetings
> Marc
>
> --
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------=
----
> Marc Haber         | "I don't trust Computers. They | Mailadresse im Head=
er
> Leimen, Germany    |  lose things."    Winona Ryder | Fon: *49 6224 16004=
02
> Nordisch by Nature |  How to make an American Quilt | Fax: *49 6224 16004=
21
>
>

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<div dir=3D"auto"><div><div>These do not appear to be contradictory. At a g=
lance, you can distribute the file as a whole under the GPLv3+. The other l=
icenses are compatible.</div><div><br></div><div dir=3D"auto">The Apache li=
cense might create an issue... Any other licenses present?</div><div dir=3D=
"auto"><br></div><div dir=3D"auto">As for copyright statements, each one is=
 relevant, each individual copyright holder retains their rights.</div><div=
 dir=3D"auto"><br></div><div data-smartmail=3D"gmail_signature"><div dir=3D=
"ltr"><div dir=3D"ltr"><div dir=3D"auto">Regards,</div><div dir=3D"auto"><b=
r></div><div dir=3D"auto">Daniel J. Hakimi</div><div dir=3D"auto">B.S. Phil=
osophy, RPI 2012</div><div dir=3D"auto">B.S. Computer Science, RPI 2012</di=
v><div dir=3D"auto">J.D. Cardozo Law 2015</div></div></div></div><br><div c=
lass=3D"gmail_quote gmail_quote_container"><div dir=3D"ltr" class=3D"gmail_=
attr">On Wed, Jun 3, 2026, 07:32 Marc Haber &lt;<a href=3D"mailto:mh%2Bdebi=
[email protected]">[email protected]</a>&gt; wrote:<br></div=
><blockquote class=3D"gmail_quote" style=3D"margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1=
px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">Hi,<br>
<br>
aclocal.m4 is obviously built by autotools by concatting segments that <br>
might have contradicting licenses. For example, the aclocal.m4 of the <br>
aide package has AT LEAST the following copyright statements in <br>
different points of the SAME file:<br>
<br>
-----<br>
# Copyright (C) 1996-2025 Free Software Foundation, Inc.<br>
<br>
# This file is free software; the Free Software Foundation<br>
# gives unlimited permission to copy and/or distribute it,<br>
# with or without modifications, as long as this notice is preserved.<br>
<br>
# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,<br>
# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law; without<br>
# even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A<br>
# PARTICULAR PURPOSE.<br>
-----<br>
#=C2=A0 =C2=A0Copyright (c) 2008 Steven G. Johnson &lt;<a href=3D"mailto:st=
[email protected]" target=3D"_blank" rel=3D"noreferrer">[email protected]=
du</a>&gt;<br>
#=C2=A0 =C2=A0Copyright (c) 2011 Daniel Richard G. &lt;[email protected]&gt;=
<br>
#=C2=A0 =C2=A0Copyright (c) 2019 Marc Stevens &lt;<a href=3D"mailto:marc.st=
[email protected]" target=3D"_blank" rel=3D"noreferrer">[email protected]</a>&=
gt;<br>
#<br>
#=C2=A0 =C2=A0This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or=
 modify it<br>
#=C2=A0 =C2=A0under the terms of the GNU General Public License as publishe=
d by the<br>
#=C2=A0 =C2=A0Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or=
 (at your<br>
#=C2=A0 =C2=A0option) any later version.<br>
#<br>
#=C2=A0 =C2=A0This program is distributed in the hope that it will be usefu=
l, but<br>
#=C2=A0 =C2=A0WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of<br=
>
#=C2=A0 =C2=A0MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the =
GNU General<br>
#=C2=A0 =C2=A0Public License for more details.<br>
-----<br>
dnl Copyright =C2=A9 2004 Scott James Remnant &lt;<a href=3D"mailto:scott@n=
etsplit.com" target=3D"_blank" rel=3D"noreferrer">[email protected]</a>&gt=
;.<br>
dnl Copyright =C2=A9 2012-2015 Dan Nicholson &lt;<a href=3D"mailto:dbn.list=
[email protected]" target=3D"_blank" rel=3D"noreferrer">[email protected]</a>&g=
t;<br>
dnl<br>
dnl This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify<br=
>
dnl it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by<br=
>
dnl the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or<br>
dnl (at your option) any later version.<br>
dnl<br>
dnl This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but<br>
dnl WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of<br>
dnl MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU<br>
dnl General Public License for more details.<br>
-----<br>
<br>
What is the way to write this in debian/copyright?<br>
<br>
Greetings<br>
Marc<br>
<br>
-- <br>
---------------------------------------------------------------------------=
--<br>
Marc Haber=C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0| &quot;I don&#39;t trust Compu=
ters. They | Mailadresse im Header<br>
Leimen, Germany=C2=A0 =C2=A0 |=C2=A0 lose things.&quot;=C2=A0 =C2=A0 Winona=
 Ryder | Fon: *49 6224 1600402<br>
Nordisch by Nature |=C2=A0 How to make an American Quilt | Fax: *49 6224 16=
00421<br>
<br>
</blockquote></div></div></div>

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