Clarify Windows license information #9296
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jkotas
commented
May 4, 2024
jkotas
commented
- DiaSymReader is used by both runtime and SDK
- ucrtbase is no longer included in .NET 7+
- DiaSymReader is used by both runtime and SDK - ucrtbase is no longer included in .NET 7+
Can we change that to: "The Windows distribution of .NET contains files that are provided under multiple licenses." I think the version bounding provided by ".NET 5.0" is no longer useful. |
Co-authored-by: Rich Lander <[email protected]>
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Does "multiple licenses" only apply to .NET on Windows? Shouldn't this be primarily covered in the LICENSE file? Note that this has more possible issues - see #662. |
There are multiple licenses in play on all OSes: On Windows, the whole package is licensed as MICROSOFT .NET LIBRARY. Parts of the package are originally licensed under variety of licenses that are compatible with MICROSOFT .NET LIBRARY. On Linux, the whole package is licensed as MIT. Parts of the package are originally licensed under variety of licenses that are compatible with MIT. (ThirdPartyNotices.txt should have complete list, for the ones that require attribution at minimum.) The difference between Windows distribution and non-Windows distribution is that Windows distribution includes proprietary non-OSS binaries that have licenses incompatible with MIT.
I do not know. It would be a question for lawyers on whether it would make sense. If it was possible, it would make the LICENSE file more complicated and non-standard that comes with its own set issues that are probably worse than the problem you are trying to solve. |
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The .NET library license is pretty broad. I see this file as providing more insight for people that care. Microsoft is the license holder (obviously). If we believe the .NET library license is insufficient on its own, then we should be motivated to update it in some way. I don't see that happening. If we were shipping the Windows distribution as MIT, the conversation would be different. |
