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| author | Uwe Kleine-König <ukleinek@kernel.org> | 2024-11-15 11:38:41 +0100 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | Jonathan Corbet <corbet@lwn.net> | 2024-11-22 10:44:25 -0700 |
| commit | d8c949c577b5adb9fb87923b5429767aae4be590 (patch) | |
| tree | 6055850bf830dd902e11ddb4a9f4fd3d7a876967 | |
| parent | 21e500138b6f3040423bb1959ac9ffe68d138733 (diff) | |
| download | lwn-d8c949c577b5adb9fb87923b5429767aae4be590.tar.gz lwn-d8c949c577b5adb9fb87923b5429767aae4be590.zip | |
docs/licensing: Clarify wording about "GPL" and "Proprietary"
There are currently some doubts about out-of-tree kernel modules licensed
under GPLv3 and if they are supposed to be able to use symbols exported
using EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL.
Clarify that "Proprietary" means anything non-GPL2 even though the
license might be an open source license. Also disambiguate "GPL
compatible" to "GPLv2 compatible".
Signed-off-by: Uwe Kleine-König <ukleinek@kernel.org>
Signed-off-by: Jonathan Corbet <corbet@lwn.net>
Link: https://lore.kernel.org/r/20241115103842.585207-2-ukleinek@kernel.org
| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/kernel-hacking/hacking.rst | 2 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/process/license-rules.rst | 18 |
2 files changed, 11 insertions, 9 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/kernel-hacking/hacking.rst b/Documentation/kernel-hacking/hacking.rst index 1717348a4404..0042776a9e17 100644 --- a/Documentation/kernel-hacking/hacking.rst +++ b/Documentation/kernel-hacking/hacking.rst @@ -587,7 +587,7 @@ Defined in ``include/linux/export.h`` Similar to :c:func:`EXPORT_SYMBOL()` except that the symbols exported by :c:func:`EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL()` can only be seen by -modules with a :c:func:`MODULE_LICENSE()` that specifies a GPL +modules with a :c:func:`MODULE_LICENSE()` that specifies a GPLv2 compatible license. It implies that the function is considered an internal implementation issue, and not really an interface. Some maintainers and developers may however require EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL() diff --git a/Documentation/process/license-rules.rst b/Documentation/process/license-rules.rst index 2ef44ada3f11..59a7832df7d0 100644 --- a/Documentation/process/license-rules.rst +++ b/Documentation/process/license-rules.rst @@ -471,14 +471,16 @@ _`MODULE_LICENSE` source files. "Proprietary" The module is under a proprietary license. - This string is solely for proprietary third - party modules and cannot be used for modules - which have their source code in the kernel - tree. Modules tagged that way are tainting - the kernel with the 'P' flag when loaded and - the kernel module loader refuses to link such - modules against symbols which are exported - with EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(). + "Proprietary" is to be understood only as + "The license is not compatible to GPLv2". + This string is solely for non-GPL2 compatible + third party modules and cannot be used for + modules which have their source code in the + kernel tree. Modules tagged that way are + tainting the kernel with the 'P' flag when + loaded and the kernel module loader refuses + to link such modules against symbols which + are exported with EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(). ============================= ============================================= |