Bug#885698: Bug#1135097: Bug#885698: What licenses should be included in /usr/share/common-licenses?

Simon Josefsson <[email protected]> Wed, 29 Apr 2026 11:38:49 +0200

Newsgroups	gmane.linux.debian.devel.policy
Message-ID	<878qa6t8ba.fsf__11285.5987202906$1777455688$gmane$org@josefsson.org>

Is there objections to using SPDX abbreviations for the file names of
licenses in base-files?

I didn't double-check if that's in the proposal, but I think that's how
it should be done.

If we already deviate from SPDX names, then maybe moving existing files
to SPDX-names, and recommending use of those names, and set up a symlink
would be an improvement.  Or grandfather in them as exceptions, to avoid
unnecessary debian/copyright churn.

It would be nice if SPDX names was mentioned in debian-policy or
base-files/debian/README.source, so we don't forget about this aspect in
the future.  We can always change that policy later on if it turns out
to be a bad idea for some reason (if someone registers FOO`rm -rf /` as
a SPDX license name, perhaps).

/Simon

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