[REUSE] Support / repurpose central LICENSE file

[Max Mehl]

Hi Nico,

Thanks for the feedback (in general @all for the lively and constructive
exchange!)

~ nicolas1.toussaint at orange.com [2020-03-12 17:55 +0100]:
> Now, to circumvent the problem of re-purposing the LICENSE file,
>   why not introduce a new file, like "LICENSE.reuse" ?
> - we can still store the license text in the LICENSE file
> - it is close enough to LICENSE so that it attracts people who
>    are looking for compliance info
> - it would ease the adoption of this standard by GitHub & co
> - this new file could be generated automatically by the REUSE tools.
> - it would take precedence over the LICENSE file (I suppose)

Wouldn't we run into a few issues here?

* LICENSE would still exist, but what should it contain if the project
  has more than 1 license? Option 1 suggests that a LICENSE file would
  only be valid if there was only 1 license used. If there are more,
  REUSE would require the LICENSES directory
* Could a meta data file like LICENSE.reuse take precedence over a
  LICENSE file which contains a full license text?

> I would just modify the content of the file:
> - to insert a link to REUSE specs
> - make it more easily parsable (maybe see with the SPDX team to create
>    new tags like SPDX-License-Identifier)

Good ideas. The first point if definitely useful, the second one would
require new tags probably as I didn't find any for preferred
inbound/outbound, and obviously none for REUSE status/version or
LICENSES. 

Best,
Max

-- 
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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