RE: [PATCH v2] ALSA: opl4: Add SPDX id lines to files in opl4 driver

[Bird, Tim]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Richard Fontana <rfontana@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Tuesday, February 17, 2026 6:12 PM
> To: Bird, Tim <Tim.Bird@xxxxxxxx>
> Cc: perex@xxxxxxxx; tiwai@xxxxxxxx; clemens@xxxxxxxxxx; tglx@xxxxxxxxxx; gregkh@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx; linux-spdx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx;
> linux-sound@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx; linux-kernel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: Re: [PATCH v2] ALSA: opl4: Add SPDX id lines to files in opl4 driver
> 
> On Tue, Feb 17, 2026 at 6: 23 PM Tim Bird <tim. bird@ sony. com> wrote: > > Add a license file for the BSD-Source-Code license variant. > Add
> "SPDX-License-Identifier GPL-2. 0-or-later OR BSD-Source-Code" > to files using this license
> 
> On Tue, Feb 17, 2026 at 6:23 PM Tim Bird <tim.bird@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
> >
> > Add a license file for the BSD-Source-Code license variant.
> > Add "SPDX-License-Identifier GPL-2.0-or-later OR BSD-Source-Code"
> > to files using this license and the 'Alternatively...' language.
> > Remove the boilerplate text from the files.
> 
> [. . .]
> > +License-Text:
> > +
> > +Copyright (c) <year> <owner> . All rights reserved.
> > +
> > +Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
> > +modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:
> > +
> > + - Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice,
> > +   this list of conditions and the following disclaimer,
> > +   without modification.
> > +
> > + - The name of the author may not be used to endorse or promote products
> > +   derived from this software without specific prior written permission.
> > +
> > +THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE AUTHOR AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND
> > +ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
> > +IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
> > +ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR
> > +ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL
> > +DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS
> > +OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION)
> > +HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT
> > +LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY
> > +OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF
> > +SUCH DAMAGE.
> 
> This isn't (at least not currently) `BSD-Source-Code`. See:
> https://spdx.org/licenses/BSD-Source-Code.html
> and https://github.com/spdx/license-list-XML/blob/main/src/BSD-Source-Code.xml

Yeah.  I used the wording from the files in the Linux kernel.  There are about 3 variations of
the wording for this license that I have found so far.  I included the URL for the SPDX version
in the kernel's license file in this patch.

Here is the wording from the SPDX site:
-----
Redistribution and use of this software in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:

* Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
* Neither the name of Deusty nor the names of its contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software without specific prior written permission of Deusty, LLC.

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
-----

While there *are* textual differences, I believe the two versions of the text are semantically equivalent.

The one in the patch was submitted by Clemens Ladisch in the original opl4 driver submission.  I haven't
done an exact count yet, but I believe this variant of the wording is used in more places than other
variants in the kernel.  My preference is to use the wording variant that was most commonly used
by kernel contributors, so that the kernel's LICENSE file matches the most places where the license
text was replaced with an SPDX-License-Identifier line.

I've been trying to avoid having to make a kernel LICENSE file for every minor variant of otherwise
semantically the same license text.  I believe dealing with this plethora of license variants is one reason the
SPDX work stalled out previously.

Let me know if you think the text in the kernel's License file  (for a given license) must be an exact match
for the spdx web site text for the license.  A separate question is whether it's appropriate to use the same
SPDX ID for variations on the same license text.  I believe it is, in this case, but I'm open to hearing
other opinions.
 -- Tim