GNU bug report logs -
#16250
Feature request: package license information and home page
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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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bug#16250
; Package
emacs
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(Wed, 25 Dec 2013 05:11:02 GMT)
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Dave Abrahams <dave <at> boostpro.com>
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New bug report received and forwarded. Copy sent to
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(Wed, 25 Dec 2013 05:11:02 GMT)
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Message #5 received at submit <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):
[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)]
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emacs
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(Wed, 25 Dec 2013 16:57:01 GMT)
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Message #8 received at 16250 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):
> 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
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(Thu, 26 Dec 2013 06:00:04 GMT)
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Message #11 received at 16250 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):
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.
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bug#16250
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emacs
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(Thu, 26 Dec 2013 12:47:02 GMT)
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Message #14 received at 16250 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):
>>> 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
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bug#16250
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emacs
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(Fri, 27 Dec 2013 18:24:02 GMT)
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Message #17 received at 16250 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):
[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
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emacs
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(Fri, 27 Dec 2013 21:45:02 GMT)
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Message #20 received at 16250 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):
>> > 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
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bug-gnu-emacs <at> gnu.org
:
bug#16250
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emacs
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(Sun, 14 Jul 2019 16:13:02 GMT)
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Message #23 received at 16250 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):
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)
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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)
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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)
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This bug report was last modified 4 years and 230 days ago.
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