[ofw] DAPL checkins for BSD license update

[Fab Tillier]

> From: Smith, Stan [mailto:stan.smith at intel.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, July 15, 2008 12:51 PM
>
> Fab Tillier wrote:
>> Hi Stan,
>>
>> If I make changes to DAPL (under the BSD) and submit a patch, I'll
>> have to remove all but the BSD license from the affected files.  Is
>> that acceptable?  Wouldn't that effectively prevent merging back into
>> the DAPL reference project?
>
> Why would you need to remove/alter the license statement? The
> assumption, by virtue of the contributors agreement, is the code is
> committed to the Windows OpenFabrics svn repository under the BSD
> license. Therefore, to modify it you would not need to change any
> license text.
> Same situation as when you modify code that has Linux GPL words in the
> license header; ib_mad.h.
>
> And yes, it would be a pain in the backside to merge upstream with
> Arlin/OFED/DAT consortium if you were to remove license text; please
> refrain and/or consult with me/Arlin.

Whether or not you remove the license text is a symptom of the issue.  If I (or anybody) makes a contribution under the BSD license only, you can't merge that upstream under a different license.  So either contributions must be made under the same license (BSD|CPL|GPL, or whatever), or that file becomes BSD only.  Think of it as the result of the following logical operation: (BSD | GPL | CPL) & BSD.  The only way to positively track BSD-only changes is to explicitly remove the reference to the other (now invalid) licenses.  If submissions have to be under the same license as the source, then there's a disagreement between the contributor agreement and the source that OFA needs to resolve.

> Why is this topic such a burr under your saddle these days?

I just need to have clarity.  If it means "don't touch DAPL" that's fine, but we need to be on the same page.  Same goes for any other projects that might still have dual-license text. As soon as they diverge from their upstream project via a code submission made under BSD-only, the other license options go away.

> BTW, what's up with your mailer, I keep getting unable to deliver
> notifications after 4 hours?

No idea, I got a notice for the same issue on a mail sent to you...

-Fab