REUSE April 2021

reuse@lists.fsfe.org

4 participants
3 discussions

REUSE.yaml
by Max Mehl 22 Jun '21

22 Jun '21

Hi all, I am starting a new thread, summarising a wild idea we've had when discussing how to combine the different ideas and expectations that have been raised in the threads regarding folder.license files and the deprecation of the DEP5 file. Our suggestion would be to implement a new file: REUSE.yaml. # Basic concept The purpose would be quite similar to what we already do with DEP5 files [^1]: communicate copyright/licensing information for a whole (sub)directory, or also just a certain pattern, e.g. all .png files in a directory. The first downside of DEP5 is that the tags are different from the normal SPDX/REUSE tags, and that it requires some other meta information out of REUSE's scope. The second downside is that the DEP5 file has to be stored in the .reuse/ folder, quite unintuitive and far away from the actual files. As the name suggests, REUSE.yaml would follow the YAML syntax which is easy to read and write for humans, but it also pretty easy to parse in tools. Another difference would be that there could be multiple REUSE.yaml files. Each one could only define the directory it is stored in, or also subdirectories or certain file patterns. So it can also serve as an alternative to the suggested folder.license files. This would make things easier for devs and reusers alike: given that a repo contains a directory with hundreds of binary files (e.g. images), the maintainers could create a REUSE.yaml file in it. This way, copyright and licensing information is close by, but the maintainers would not have to create $file.license files for every single image, or store the bulk-information in a far-away file. # Syntax Now, if we went that route, we would need a rather fool-proof and easy way how to mark the REUSE information for a directory, subdirectory, or pattern. Here are four variants how to do that in YAML, but only one should be mandated by REUSE in the end: 1. Short Array: ``` - src/*: SPDX-FileCopyrightText: [ "2020 me", "© 2017 you" ] SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT ``` 2. Short List: ``` - src/*: SPDX-FileCopyrightText: - 2020 Me - © 2017 You SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT ``` 3. Short String: ``` - src/*: | SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2020 Me SPDX-FileCopyrightText: © 2017 You SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT ``` 4. Long: ``` - src/*: license: SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT copyright: | SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2020 Me SPDX-FileCopyrightText: © 2017 You ``` Please help us here: what could possibly go wrong with any of these variants? Is there tooling for which you know that it would misbehave? What would make most sense to you as a user? Also, in general, I would be pleased to learn what you think about a REUSE.yaml file that would be a preferred way how to bulk-license files. Best, Max [^1]: See the one of reuse-tool here as an example: https://github.com/fsfe/reuse-tool/blob/master/.reuse/dep5 -- Max Mehl - Programme Manager - Free Software Foundation Europe Contact and information: https://fsfe.org/about/mehl | @mxmehl Become a supporter of software freedom: https://fsfe.org/join

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REUSE badge for non-default branch of a git repository
by Peter Moser 29 Apr '21

29 Apr '21

Hi all, I have started to use the REUSE API for some projects to show the badge in the README.md file. See https://github.com/noi-techpark/webcomp-mountain-area for example The problem now is, that currently I have the .reuse and LICENSES folder only on our "development" branch. https://github.com/noi-techpark/webcomp-mountain-area/tree/development On my local machine "reuse lint" gives green light for REUSE compliance, but the badge shows non-compliant, because it seems to always check the main branch of each registered repository. Is there a possibility to automatically check the current branch? Cheers, Peter -- Digital Technologies ICT Peter Moser T +39 0471 066 672 p.moser(a)noi.bz.it NOI Techpark Südtirol / Alto Adige A.-Volta-Straße / Via A. Volta, 13A I-39100 Bozen / Bolzano https://www.noi.bz.it

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Bug in the subscribe form of this mailing list
by Sebastian 18 Apr '21

18 Apr '21

Dear all, I've just subscribed to this list, and am looking forward to participating in some of the discussions regarding the REUSE specification and its associated tooling. However, I came up against an issue with the web form for subscribing to this list. Upon entering the correct information into the form, I got an error message saying "The form is tool old. Please GET it again." - a screenshot of this message is attached. This wasn't resolved by merely refreshing the page; but I managed to subscribe by selecting the digest mode on the form and changing that back in the Mailman settings once successfully subscribed. I have to admit that I'm rather intrigued by this error - I would expect such a form to be using a POST request. Is the form being fetched from some sort of reverse proxy cache, maybe? I hope this report is useful! Best wishes, Sebastian

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REUSE April 2021