1 Check-Script: copyright-file
2 Author: Christian Schwarz <schwarz@debian.org>
6 Needs-Info: copyright-file
7 Info: This script checks if a binary package conforms to policy
8 with regard to copyright files.
10 Each binary package must either have a /usr/share/doc/<foo>/copyright file
11 or must have a symlink /usr/share/doc/<foo> -> <bar>, where <bar> comes
12 from the same source package and pkg foo declares a "Depends" relation
15 Tag: no-copyright-file
17 Info: Each binary package has to include a plain file
18 /usr/share/doc/<i>pkg</i>/copyright
22 Tag: copyright-refers-to-old-directory
24 Info: The common licenses (GPL, BSD, Artistic, etc) have been moved from
25 /usr/doc/copyright to /usr/share/common-licenses.
26 Copyright files should be updated.
29 Tag: copyright-file-compressed
31 Info: The copyright file /usr/share/doc/<i>pkg</i>/copyright must not be
35 Tag: copyright-file-is-symlink
37 Info: The copyright file /usr/share/doc/<i>pkg</i>/copyright must not be a
41 Tag: copyright-file-contains-full-gpl-license
43 Info: The copyright file /usr/share/doc/<i>pkg</i>/copyright contains the
44 complete text of the GPL v2 or v3. It should refer to the file
45 <tt>/usr/share/common-licenses/GPL-2</tt> or <tt>GPL-3</tt> instead.
48 Tag: copyright-file-contains-full-gfdl-license
50 Info: The copyright file /usr/share/doc/<i>pkg</i>/copyright contains the
51 complete text of the GFDL v1.2. It should refer to the file
52 <tt>/usr/share/common-licenses/GFDL-1.2</tt> instead.
55 Tag: copyright-file-contains-full-apache-2-license
57 Info: The copyright file /usr/share/doc/<i>pkg</i>/copyright contains the
58 complete text of the Apache 2.0 license. It should refer to the file
59 <tt>/usr/share/common-licenses/Apache-2.0</tt> instead.
62 Tag: usr-share-doc-symlink-without-dependency
64 Info: If the package installs a symbolic link /usr/share/doc/<i>pkg1</i> ->
65 <i>pkg2</i>, then <i>pkg1</i> has to depend on <i>pkg2</i> with the same
66 version as <i>pkg1</i>.
68 Note, that adding the "Depends:" entry just to fix this bug is not a good
69 solution. It's suggested that you include a real /usr/share/doc/<i>pkg1</i>
70 directory within <i>pkg1</i> and copy the copyright file into that directory.
73 Tag: usr-share-doc-symlink-to-foreign-package
75 Info: If the package installs a symbolic link /usr/share/doc/<i>pkg1</i> ->
76 <i>pkg2</i>, then <i>pkg1</i> and <i>pkg2</i> must both come from the same
79 It's suggested that you include a real /usr/share/doc/<i>pkg1</i> directory
80 within <i>pkg1</i> and copy the copyright file to that directory.
83 Tag: cannot-check-whether-usr-share-doc-symlink-points-to-foreign-package
85 Info: There is a symlink /usr/share/doc/<i>pkg1</i> -> <i>pkg2</i>
86 in your package. This means that <i>pkg1</i> and <i>pkg2</i> must
87 both come from the same source package. I can't check this right now
88 however since I'm only checking a binary package and I only can check
89 this when I'm checking both the binary and the corresponding source
92 Tag: old-style-copyright-file
94 Info: The package installs a /usr/doc/copyright/<i>pkg</i> file. Instead,
95 you should place the copyright file in /usr/share/doc/<i>pkg</i>/copyright.
98 Tag: old-fsf-address-in-copyright-file
100 Info: The /usr/share/doc/<i>pkg</i>/copyright file refers to the old postal
101 address of the Free Software Foundation (FSF). The new address is:
103 Free Software Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston,
106 Tag: helper-templates-in-copyright
108 Info: The /usr/share/doc/<i>pkg</i>/copyright file still contains the template
109 contents from a packaging helper. Please include the actual license and
110 download information about the package.
112 Tag: copyright-refers-to-compressed-license
114 Info: The /usr/share/doc/<i>pkg</i>/copyright file refers to a standard license
115 /usr/share/common-licenses/{GPL,LGPL,Artistic,BSD}.gz as a compressed
116 file. Please update the reference (the licenses are installed
119 Tag: usr-share-doc-symlink-points-outside-of-usr-share-doc
121 Info: The /usr/share/doc/<i>pkg</i> symbolic link is pointing to a directory
122 outside of <tt>/usr/share/doc</tt>.
125 Tag: copyright-does-not-refer-to-common-license-file
127 Info: If your package uses any one of the licenses in
128 <tt>/usr/share/common-licenses</tt>, the copyright file should refer to
132 Tag: copyright-refers-to-incorrect-directory
135 Info: In the directory name /usr/share/common-licenses, licenses is spelled
136 with an `s', not with as licences with a `c'.
138 Tag: copyright-file-lacks-pointer-to-perl-license
141 Info: If your package is released under the same terms as Perl itself,
142 it should refer to the Artistic and GPL license files in the
143 <tt>/usr/share/common-licenses</tt> directory.
145 Tag: copyright-should-refer-to-common-license-file-for-gpl
148 Info: The strings "GNU General Public License" or "GPL" appear in the
149 copyright file for this package, but the copyright file does not
150 reference <tt>/usr/share/common-licenses</tt> as the location of the GPL
153 If the package uses some other license that just mentions the GPL and
154 that Lintian should detect as an exception, please file a Lintian bug.
155 If the copyright file must mention the GPL for reasons other than stating
156 the license of the package, please add a Lintian override.
158 Tag: copyright-should-refer-to-common-license-file-for-gfdl
161 Info: The strings "GNU Free Documentation License" or "GFDL" appear in the
162 copyright file for this package, but the copyright file does not
163 reference <tt>/usr/share/common-licenses</tt> as the location of the GFDL
166 If the package uses some other license that just mentions the GFDL and
167 that Lintian should detect as an exception, please file a Lintian bug.
168 If the copyright file must mention the GPL for reasons other than stating
169 the license of the package, please add a Lintian override.
171 Tag: copyright-should-refer-to-common-license-file-for-lgpl
174 Info: The strings "GNU Lesser General Public License", "GNU Library
175 General Public License", or "LGPL" appear in the copyright file for this
176 package, but the copyright file does not reference
177 <tt>/usr/share/common-licenses</tt> as the location of the LGPL on Debian
180 If the package uses some other license that just mentions the LGPL and
181 that Lintian should detect as an exception, please file a Lintian bug.
182 If the copyright file must mention the GPL for reasons other than stating
183 the license of the package, please add a Lintian override.
185 Tag: copyright-lists-upstream-authors-with-dh_make-boilerplate
187 Info: There is "Upstream Author(s)" in your copyright file. This was most
188 likely a remnant from the dh_make template.
190 There's either one upstream author, in which case you should remove the
191 "(s)", or there are several upstream authors, in which case you should
192 remove the "(" and ")".
194 o/~ join us now and carefully edit debian/copyright files! o/~
196 Tag: copyright-has-url-from-dh_make-boilerplate
199 Info: There is "url://example.com" in your copyright file. This was most
200 likely a remnant from the dh_make template.
202 Make sure you include the real location where you obtained the
203 upstream sources (if any).
205 Tag: debian-copyright-file-uses-obsolete-national-encoding
207 Info: The Debian copyright file should be valid UTF-8, an encoding of
208 the Unicode character set.
210 There are many ways to convert a copyright file from an obsoleted encoding
211 like ISO-8859-1; you may for example use "iconv" like:
213 $ iconv -f ISO-8859-1 -t UTF-8 copyright > copyright.new
214 $ mv copyright.new copyright
216 Tag: copyright-contains-dh_make-todo-boilerplate
219 Info: The string "Please also look if..." appears in the copyright
220 file, which indicates that you either didn't check the whole source
221 to find additional copyright/license, or that you didn't remove that
222 paragraph after having done so.
224 Tag: copyright-contains-dh-make-perl-boilerplate
227 Info: The string "This copyright info was automatically extracted..."
228 appears in the copyright file, which indicates that you either didn't
229 check the whole source to find additional copyright/license, or that
230 you didn't remove that paragraph after having done so.
232 Tag: copyright-without-copyright-notice
234 Ref: http://ftp-master.debian.org/REJECT-FAQ.html
235 Info: The copyright file for this package does not appear to contain a
236 copyright notice. You should copy the copyright notice from the upstream
237 source (or add one of your own for a native package). A copyright notice
238 must consist of Copyright, Copr., or the Unicode symbol of C in a circle
239 followed by the years and the copyright holder. A copyright notice is
240 not required for a work to be copyrighted, but Debian requires the
241 copyright file include the authors and years of copyright, and including
242 a valid copyright notice is the best way to do that.
244 If the package is in the public domain rather than copyrighted, be sure
245 to mention "public domain" in the copyright file. Please be aware that
246 this is very rare and not the same as a DFSG-free license. True public
247 domain software is generally limited to such special cases as a work
248 product of a United States government agency.
250 Tag: spelling-error-in-copyright
252 Info: Lintian found a spelling error in the copyright file. Lintian has a
253 list of common misspellings that it looks for. It does not have a
254 dictionary like a spelling checker does.
256 Tag: possible-gpl-code-linked-with-openssl
258 Info: This package appears to be covered by the GNU GPL but depends on
259 the OpenSSL libssl package and does not mention a license exemption or
260 exception for OpenSSL in its copyright file. The GPL (including version
261 3) is incompatible with some terms of the OpenSSL license, and therefore
262 Debian does not allow GPL-licensed code linked with OpenSSL libraries
263 unless there is a license exception explicitly permitting this.
265 If only the Debian packaging, or some other part of the package not
266 linked with OpenSSL, is covered by the GNU GPL, please add a lintian
267 override for this tag. Lintian currently has no good way of
268 distinguishing between that case and problematic packages.
270 Tag: debian-copyright-line-too-long
272 Info: One or more lines in the copyright file contain more than 80 characters.
273 For the benefit of users of 80x25 terminals, it is recommended that the
274 lines do not exceed 80 characters.