From a5838e9785968337311b361689ba20c6379ced03 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Doug Hellmann Date: Tue, 19 Jan 2016 14:22:42 -0500 Subject: [PATCH] improve licensing docs Clarify some wording and add links to things that may need to be defined for readers. Change-Id: I98d0fc82ab9e66001e287dd2e21a1ba626823d17 --- reference/licensing.rst | 37 +++++++++++++++++++++++-------------- 1 file changed, 23 insertions(+), 14 deletions(-) diff --git a/reference/licensing.rst b/reference/licensing.rst index 2b23cbcad..f88d392e7 100644 --- a/reference/licensing.rst +++ b/reference/licensing.rst @@ -3,27 +3,36 @@ ======================== Official OpenStack projects need to follow a number of rules when it comes -to licensing. This document clarifies what those requirements are. +to licensing. -In order to be considered for inclusion in the **TC-approved release** -(the subset of OpenStack projects that may be included in a Defcore -trademark program), the project must be licensed under ASLv2. +In order to be considered for inclusion in the +:ref:`tag-tc-approved-release`, the project must be licensed under `Apache +License, Version 2.0`_ (ASLv2). -**OpenStack projects and libraries produced under the Big Tent** should -generally be licensed under ASLv2, and otherwise must be licensed under -a license supported by the CLA, which allows redistribution under ASLv2 -(currently limited to MIT and BSD (both forms)). In particular, service -projects are recommended to always pick ASLv2 so that they may be included -in the TC-approved release in the future. +.. _Apache License, Version 2.0: http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0 + +**OpenStack projects and libraries produced under the Big Tent** +should generally be licensed under ASLv2, and otherwise must be +licensed under a license supported by the `Contributor License +Agreement`_ (CLA) which allows redistribution by the OpenStack +Foundation under ASLv2 (currently only the MIT and both forms of the +BSD license meet this requirement). In particular, service projects +are recommended to *always* pick ASLv2 so that they may be included in +the TC-approved release in the future. + +.. _Contributor License Agreement: https://wiki.openstack.org/wiki/How_To_Contribute#Contributor_License_Agreement In order to be acceptable as dependencies of OpenStack projects, **external libraries** (produced and published by 3rd-party developers) -must be licensed under an OSI-approved license that does not restrict -distribution of the consuming project. That includes ASLv2, BSD (both -forms), MIT, PSF, LGPL, ISC, and MPL. That excludes GPLv2, GPLv3, and AGPL. +must be licensed under an `OSI-approved license`_ that does not restrict +distribution of the consuming project. The list of acceptable licenses +includes ASLv2, BSD (both forms), MIT, PSF, LGPL, ISC, and MPL. Licenses +considered incompatible with this requirement include GPLv2, GPLv3, and AGPL. **Projects run as part of the OpenStack Infrastructure** (in order to -*produce* OpenStack software) may be licensed under any OSI-approved license. +*produce* OpenStack software) may be licensed under any `OSI-approved license`_. + +.. _OSI-approved license: http://opensource.org/licenses/alphabetical Other licenses (not explicitly listed in this document) may be considered in the future on a case-by-case basis by the Technical Committee, with the