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diff --git a/docs/manual/using.txt b/docs/manual/using.txt index 56ed23b02..e8136f80a 100644 --- a/docs/manual/using.txt +++ b/docs/manual/using.txt @@ -110,133 +110,3 @@ your needs, with all the supports and applications you enabled. More details about the "make" command usage are given in xref:make-tips[]. - -Complying with opensource licenses ----------------------------------- -[[legal-info]] - -All of the end products of Buildroot (toolchain, root filesystem, kernel, -bootloaders) contain opensource software, released under various licenses. - -Using opensource software gives you the freedom to build rich embedded -systems choosing from a wide range of packages, but also gives some -obligations that you must know and honour. -Some licenses require you to publish the license text in the documentation of -your product. Other require you to redistribute the source code of the -software to those that receive your product. - -The exact requirements of each license is documented in each package, and it is -your (or your legal office's) responsibility to comply with these requirements. -To make this easier for you, Buildroot can collect for you some material you -will probably need. To produce this material, after you configured Buildroot -with +make menuconfig+, +make xconfig+ or +make gconfig+, run: - --------------------- -make legal-info --------------------- - -Buildroot will collect legally-relevant material in your output directory, -under the +legal-info/+ subdirectory. -There you will find: - -* A +README+ file, that summarizes the produced material and contains warnings - about material that Buildroot could not produce. -* +buildroot.config+: this is the Buildroot configuration file that is usually - produced with +make menuconfig+, and which is necessary to reproduce the - build. -* The source code for all packages; this is saved in the +sources/+ - subdirectory (except for proprietary packages, whose source code is not - saved); - patches applied to some packages by Buildroot are distributed with the - Buildroot sources and are not duplicated in the +sources/+ subdirectory. -* A manifest file listing the configured packages, their version, license and - related information. - Some of these information might be not defined in Buildroot; in this case - they are clearly marked as "unknown" or similar. -* A +licenses/+ subdirectory, which contains the license text of packages. - If the license file(s) are not defined in Buildroot, the file is not produced - and a warning in the +README+ indicates this. - -Please note that the aim of the +legal-info+ feature of Buildroot is to -produce all the material that is somehow relevant for legal compliance with the -package licenses. Buildroot does not try to produce the exact material that -you must somehow make public. It does surely produce some more material than is -needed for a strict legal compliance. For example, it produces the source code -for packages released under BSD-like licenses, that you might not want to -redistribute in source form. - -Moreover, due to technical limitations, Buildroot does not produce some -material that you will or may need, such as the toolchain source code and the -Buildroot source code itself. -When you run +make legal-info+, Buildroot produces warnings in the +README+ -file to inform you of relevant material that could not be saved. - -Here is a list of the licenses that are most widely used by packages in -Buildroot, with the name used in the manifest file: - -* +GPLv2+: - http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/gpl-2.0.html[ - GNU General Public License, version 2]; -* +GPLv2++: - http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/gpl-2.0.html[ - GNU General Public License, version 2] - or (at your option) any later version; -* +GPLv3+: - http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html[ - GNU General Public License, version 3]; -* +GPLv3++: - http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html[ - GNU General Public License, version 3] - or (at your option) any later version; -* +GPL+: - http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html[ - GNU General Public License] (any version); -* +LGPLv2.1+: - http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/lgpl-2.1.html[ - GNU Lesser General Public License, version 2.1]; -* +LGPLv2.1++: - http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/lgpl-2.1.html[ - GNU Lesser General Public License, version 2.1] - or (at your option) any later version; -* +LGPLv3+: - http://www.gnu.org/licenses/lgpl.html[ - GNU Lesser General Public License, version 3]; -* +LGPLv3++: - http://www.gnu.org/licenses/lgpl.html[ - GNU Lesser General Public License, version 3] - or (at your option) any later version; -* +LGPL+: - http://www.gnu.org/licenses/lgpl.html[ - GNU Lesser General Public License] (any version); -* +BSD-4c+: Original BSD 4-clause license; -* +BSD-3c+: BSD 3-clause license; -* +BSD-2c+: BSD 2-clause license; -* +PROPRIETARY+: marks a non-opensource package; - Buildroot does not save any licensing info or source code for these packages. - -Complying with the Buildroot license ------------------------------------- - -Buildroot itself is an opensource software, released under the -http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/gpl-2.0.html[GNU General Public -License, version 2] or (at your option) any later version. -However, being a build system, it is not normally part of the end product: -if you develop the root filesystem, kernel, bootloader or toolchain for a -device, the code of Buildroot is only present on the development machine, not -in the device storage. - -Nevertheless, the general view of the Buildroot developers is that you should -release the Buildroot source code along with the source code of other packages -when releasing a product that contains GPL-licensed software. -This is because the -http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/gpl-2.0.html[GNU GPL] -defines the "'complete source code'" for an executable work as "'all the -source code for all modules it contains, plus any associated interface -definition files, plus the scripts used to control compilation and installation -of the executable'". -Buildroot is part of the 'scripts used to control compilation and -installation of the executable', and as such it is considered part of the -material that must be redistributed. - -Keep in mind this is only the Buildroot developers' opinion, and you should -consult your legal department or lawyer in case of any doubt. |