GNU bug report logs - #16250
Feature request: package license information and home page

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Package: emacs;

Reported by: Dave Abrahams <dave <at> boostpro.com>

Date: Wed, 25 Dec 2013 05:11:02 UTC

Severity: wishlist

Tags: wontfix

Done: Stefan Kangas <stefan <at> marxist.se>

Bug is archived. No further changes may be made.

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Report forwarded to bug-gnu-emacs <at> gnu.org:
bug#16250; Package emacs. (Wed, 25 Dec 2013 05:11:02 GMT) Full text and rfc822 format available.

Acknowledgement sent to Dave Abrahams <dave <at> boostpro.com>:
New bug report received and forwarded. Copy sent to bug-gnu-emacs <at> gnu.org. (Wed, 25 Dec 2013 05:11:02 GMT) Full text and rfc822 format available.

Message #5 received at submit <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Dave Abrahams <dave <at> boostpro.com>
To: bug-gnu-emacs <at> gnu.org
Subject: Feature request: package license information and home page
Date: Tue, 24 Dec 2013 21:09:24 -0800
[Message part 1 (text/plain, inline)]
There should be an easy way to find out the
license information and other metadata about a package before installing
it.  Ideally this information should show up in the results of
package-menu-describe-package

Thanks for entertaining my request,

-- 
Dave Abrahams
[Message part 2 (text/html, inline)]

Information forwarded to bug-gnu-emacs <at> gnu.org:
bug#16250; Package emacs. (Wed, 25 Dec 2013 16:57:01 GMT) Full text and rfc822 format available.

Message #8 received at 16250 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Stefan Monnier <monnier <at> IRO.UMontreal.CA>
To: Dave Abrahams <dave <at> boostpro.com>
Cc: 16250 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#16250: Feature request: package license information and home
 page
Date: Wed, 25 Dec 2013 11:56:01 -0500
> There should be an easy way to find out the license information and

Why?

> other metadata about a package before installing it.

Which other metadata?


        Stefan




Information forwarded to bug-gnu-emacs <at> gnu.org:
bug#16250; Package emacs. (Thu, 26 Dec 2013 06:00:04 GMT) Full text and rfc822 format available.

Message #11 received at 16250 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Dave Abrahams <dave <at> boostpro.com>
To: Stefan Monnier <monnier <at> IRO.UMontreal.CA>
Cc: "16250 <at> debbugs.gnu.org" <16250 <at> debbugs.gnu.org>
Subject: Re: bug#16250: Feature request: package license information and home
 page
Date: Wed, 25 Dec 2013 21:59:21 -0800

Sent from my moss-covered three-handled family gradunza

On Dec 25, 2013, at 8:56 AM, Stefan Monnier <monnier <at> IRO.UMontreal.CA> wrote:

>> There should be an easy way to find out the license information and
> 
> Why?

Some people (like me) are picky about the license terms of software that they download, especially in source form. 

>> other metadata about a package before installing it.
> 
> Which other metadata?

For example, a package's home page, author, maybe date of last update, etc. 



Information forwarded to bug-gnu-emacs <at> gnu.org:
bug#16250; Package emacs. (Thu, 26 Dec 2013 12:47:02 GMT) Full text and rfc822 format available.

Message #14 received at 16250 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Stefan Monnier <monnier <at> IRO.UMontreal.CA>
To: Dave Abrahams <dave <at> boostpro.com>
Cc: "16250 <at> debbugs.gnu.org" <16250 <at> debbugs.gnu.org>
Subject: Re: bug#16250: Feature request: package license information and home
 page
Date: Thu, 26 Dec 2013 07:46:22 -0500
>>> There should be an easy way to find out the license information and
>> Why?
> Some people (like me) are picky about the license terms of software that
> they download, especially in source form.

Give me some examples of Elisp packages where that would be useful.

>>> other metadata about a package before installing it.
>> Which other metadata?
> For example, a package's home page, author, maybe date of last update, etc.

The home page is already available, AFAIK.  Author/maintainer could
be provided.  Date of last update is generally not kept (tho in
elpa.gnu.org/packages you can indeed see it, tho it's really the date
at which the tarball was created).

I think the better option is to let the user separate the "download" and
"install" steps so she can look at those extra info before installing.


        Stefan




Information forwarded to bug-gnu-emacs <at> gnu.org:
bug#16250; Package emacs. (Fri, 27 Dec 2013 18:24:02 GMT) Full text and rfc822 format available.

Message #17 received at 16250 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Dave Abrahams <dave <at> boostpro.com>
To: Stefan Monnier <monnier <at> iro.umontreal.ca>
Cc: "16250 <at> debbugs.gnu.org" <16250 <at> debbugs.gnu.org>
Subject: Re: bug#16250: Feature request: package license information and home
 page
Date: Fri, 27 Dec 2013 10:23:04 -0800
[Message part 1 (text/plain, inline)]
On Thu, Dec 26, 2013 at 4:46 AM, Stefan Monnier <monnier <at> iro.umontreal.ca>wrote:

> >>> There should be an easy way to find out the license information and
> >> Why?
> > Some people (like me) are picky about the license terms of software that
> > they download, especially in source form.
>
> Give me some examples of Elisp packages where that would be useful.
>

Any package is a potential example.  I’m not sure what you’re looking for
here, and I don’t suppose you want an arbitrary list of the first 50
packages listed at MELPA.  If you could explain what you’re after maybe I
could say something useful.


> >>> other metadata about a package before installing it.
> >> Which other metadata?
> > For example, a package's home page, author, maybe date of last update,
> etc.
>
> The home page is already available, AFAIK.  Author/maintainer could
> be provided.  Date of last update is generally not kept (tho in
> elpa.gnu.org/packages you can indeed see it, tho it's really the date
> at which the tarball was created).
>
> I think the better option is to let the user separate the "download" and
> "install" steps so she can look at those extra info before installing.


That won’t help people whose employers have specific rules restricting the
license terms of code that may be *downloaded to the employers’ machines*
without prior approval.

-- 
Dave Abrahams
[Message part 2 (text/html, inline)]

Information forwarded to bug-gnu-emacs <at> gnu.org:
bug#16250; Package emacs. (Fri, 27 Dec 2013 21:45:02 GMT) Full text and rfc822 format available.

Message #20 received at 16250 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Stefan Monnier <monnier <at> IRO.UMontreal.CA>
To: Dave Abrahams <dave <at> boostpro.com>
Cc: "16250 <at> debbugs.gnu.org" <16250 <at> debbugs.gnu.org>
Subject: Re: bug#16250: Feature request: package license information and home
 page
Date: Fri, 27 Dec 2013 16:44:23 -0500
>> > Some people (like me) are picky about the license terms of software that
>> > they download, especially in source form.
>> Give me some examples of Elisp packages where that would be useful.
> Any package is a potential example.

99.9% of Elisp packages are licensed under the GPL.  I doubt these would
be convincing examples of the need to check the licensing info.
And the remaining 0.1% is licensed under a GPL-compatible license, BTW
(because any Elisp package necessarily links to GPL'd code, either
Emacs's or XEmacs's, so it's basically illegal to distribute Elisp code
under anything else than a GPL-compatible license).

> If you could explain what you’re after maybe I could say
> something useful.

An example package where it can be useful to know what license is used.


        Stefan




Information forwarded to bug-gnu-emacs <at> gnu.org:
bug#16250; Package emacs. (Sun, 14 Jul 2019 16:13:02 GMT) Full text and rfc822 format available.

Message #23 received at 16250 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Stefan Kangas <stefan <at> marxist.se>
To: Stefan Monnier <monnier <at> iro.umontreal.ca>
Cc: Dave Abrahams <dave <at> boostpro.com>,
 "16250 <at> debbugs.gnu.org" <16250 <at> debbugs.gnu.org>
Subject: Re: bug#16250: Feature request: package license information and home
 page
Date: Sun, 14 Jul 2019 18:12:39 +0200
tags 16250 + wontfix
close 16250
thanks

Dave Abrahams <dave <at> boostpro.com> writes:

> There should be an easy way to find out the
> license information and other metadata about a package before installing
> it.  Ideally this information should show up in the results of
> package-menu-describe-package

Stefan Monnier <monnier <at> IRO.UMontreal.CA> writes:

>>> > Some people (like me) are picky about the license terms of software that
>>> > they download, especially in source form.
>>> Give me some examples of Elisp packages where that would be useful.
>> Any package is a potential example.
>
> 99.9% of Elisp packages are licensed under the GPL.  I doubt these would
> be convincing examples of the need to check the licensing info.
> And the remaining 0.1% is licensed under a GPL-compatible license, BTW
> (because any Elisp package necessarily links to GPL'd code, either
> Emacs's or XEmacs's, so it's basically illegal to distribute Elisp code
> under anything else than a GPL-compatible license).
>
>> If you could explain what you’re after maybe I could say
>> something useful.
>
> An example package where it can be useful to know what license is used.

That was in 2013, and I agree with Stefan that this feature doesn't sound worth
it.  It's all GPL compatible.  FWIW, Debian doesn't show this in aptitude
either.

The homepage is already available in package-menu-describe-package.

I've therefore closed this as wontfix.  If anyone disagrees, feel free
to re-open.

Best regards,
Stefan Kangas




Added tag(s) wontfix. Request was from Stefan Kangas <stefan <at> marxist.se> to control <at> debbugs.gnu.org. (Sun, 14 Jul 2019 16:13:02 GMT) Full text and rfc822 format available.

bug closed, send any further explanations to 16250 <at> debbugs.gnu.org and Dave Abrahams <dave <at> boostpro.com> Request was from Stefan Kangas <stefan <at> marxist.se> to control <at> debbugs.gnu.org. (Sun, 14 Jul 2019 16:13:03 GMT) Full text and rfc822 format available.

bug archived. Request was from Debbugs Internal Request <help-debbugs <at> gnu.org> to internal_control <at> debbugs.gnu.org. (Mon, 12 Aug 2019 11:24:07 GMT) Full text and rfc822 format available.

This bug report was last modified 4 years and 230 days ago.

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