is copyleft packaging bad for Debian?

Jonas Smedegaard <[email protected]> Fri, 30 Jan 2026 14:04:44 +0100
Newsgroups	gmane.linux.debian.devel.project
Message-ID	<[email protected]>
Hi dear fellow Debian developers,

When I package a project for inclusion into Debian, I commonly license
my packaging work using a copyleft license¹.

I appreciate that upstream authors may have reasons to choose different
licensing, and am open to relicense non-packaging parts (e.g. patches).
Sometimes I proactively license patches potential for upstream adoption
same as upstream, but generally I don't - patches are often arguably
too small to be copyright-protected, or might contain contributions
from multiple authors - in short, it is simpler for me to ensure that
the packaging parts are all DFSG-free than that they are all compliant
with upstream choice of licensing, and I see no need for the packaging
part to be compliant with upstream choice of licensing.

My question here is: Am I doing a disservice to Debian? Do Debian
already have a Policy about this? If not, should we add one?

Personally I think not. I think that Debian is about DFSG, not about
lowering politically to the lowest common denominator.

What triggers me in asking this is that, as part of a recent NEW queue
processing, this pattern of mine was noticed and questioned.  I don't
think that question is a relevant part of NEW queue processing, but
instead of letting that being a discussion between me and that one
helpful developer screening the package, or between me and the team,
I consider it more appropriately a discussion in Debian in general.

To clarify, I am not asking if copylef is more virtuous or a virus.
Also, I am not asking if it is simpler to go with the flow.  I am
asking if it is bad for Debian to have licensing opinions, within the
scope of DFSG.

Kind regards,

 - Jonas


¹ Nowadays I mostly use GPL-3+ but that varies slightly.  I don't mind
elaborating on when I choose which license specifically, but consider
such detalis unimportant for the topic of this email.

-- 
 * Jonas Smedegaard - idealist & Internet-arkitekt
 * Tlf.: +45 40843136  Website: http://dr.jones.dk/
 * Sponsorship: https://ko-fi.com/drjones

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