License of the SageMath documentation

[tha...@debian.org]

Hi,

I found conflicting information about the license of the SageMath documentation.

While it says nothing in COPYING.txt, it says in src/doc/en/reference/history_and_license/index.rst that "All documentation is released under the GNU Free Documentation License."

On the other hand, there are many files, for example src/doc/en/reference/index.rst which state "This work is licensed under a `Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License`__."

So which one is true? This should be clarified in the sources.

Best,
Tobias

[tha...@debian.org]

The GNU Free Documentation License is not considered a free license by Debian. So if it's this, it can't be included in Debian. :(

See https://wiki.debian.org/DFSGLicenses#GNU_Free_Documentation_License_.28GFDL.29

[Dima Pasechnik]

On Thursday, December 8, 2016 at 1:59:11 PM UTC, tha...@debian.org wrote:

The GNU Free Documentation License is not considered a free license by Debian. So if it's this, it can't be included in Debian. :(

See https://wiki.debian.org/DFSGLicenses#GNU_Free_Documentation_License_.28GFDL.29

Am Sonntag, 4. Dezember 2016 21:45:27 UTC schrieb tha...@debian.org:

Hi,

I found conflicting information about the license of the SageMath documentation.

While it says nothing in COPYING.txt, it says in src/doc/en/reference/history_and_license/index.rst that "All documentation is released under the GNU Free Documentation License."

As far as I am concerned, all the docs can be re-licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License`__.

I guess that "...GNU Free Documentation License..." might merely be a typo, given that what follows this line is the text of the usual GPL.

[Tobias Hansen]

On 12/08/2016 04:05 PM, Dima Pasechnik wrote:
>
>
> On Thursday, December 8, 2016 at 1:59:11 PM UTC, tha...@debian.org wrote:
>
> The GNU Free Documentation License is not considered a free license
> by Debian. So if it's this, it can't be included in Debian. :(
>
> See
> https://wiki.debian.org/DFSGLicenses#GNU_Free_Documentation_License_.28GFDL.29
> <https://wiki.debian.org/DFSGLicenses#GNU_Free_Documentation_License_.28GFDL.29>
>
> Am Sonntag, 4. Dezember 2016 21:45:27 UTC schrieb tha...@debian.org:
>
> Hi,
>
> I found conflicting information about the license of the
> SageMath documentation.
>
> While it says nothing in COPYING.txt, it says in
> src/doc/en/reference/history_and_license/index.rst that "All
> documentation is released under the GNU Free Documentation
> License."
>
>
> As far as I am concerned, all the docs can be re-licensed under Creative
> Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License`__.
> I guess that "...GNU Free Documentation License..." might merely be a
> typo, given that what follows this line is the text of the usual GPL.
>
>

The documentation could be licensed under GPL, CC, (GPL and CC) or even
(GPL and GFDL) or GFDL "with no invariant sections" as far as I'm
concerned. It would just be nice if it would be stated unambiguously,
preferably in COPYING.txt.

Best,
Tobias