kernel: add SPDX-License-Identifier lines

[PATCH] kernel: add SPDX-License-Identifier lines

Posted by Tim Bird 3 weeks, 4 days ago

Add SPDX-License-Identifier lines to some old kernel
files.

Signed-off-by: Tim Bird <tim.bird@sony.com>
---
 kernel/cpu.c   | 3 +--
 kernel/relay.c | 3 +--
 2 files changed, 2 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

diff --git a/kernel/cpu.c b/kernel/cpu.c
index 8df2d773fe3b..5185c0be847a 100644
--- a/kernel/cpu.c
+++ b/kernel/cpu.c
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
 /* CPU control.
  * (C) 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 Rusty Russell
- *
- * This code is licenced under the GPL.
  */
 #include <linux/sched/mm.h>
 #include <linux/proc_fs.h>
diff --git a/kernel/relay.c b/kernel/relay.c
index e36f6b926f7f..6ed6bc929bf9 100644
--- a/kernel/relay.c
+++ b/kernel/relay.c
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
 /*
  * Public API and common code for kernel->userspace relay file support.
  *
@@ -9,8 +10,6 @@
  * Moved to kernel/relay.c by Paul Mundt, 2006.
  * November 2006 - CPU hotplug support by Mathieu Desnoyers
  * 	(mathieu.desnoyers@polymtl.ca)
- *
- * This file is released under the GPL.
  */
 #include <linux/errno.h>
 #include <linux/stddef.h>
-- 
2.43.0

Re: [PATCH] kernel: add SPDX-License-Identifier lines

Posted by Rusty Russell 2 weeks, 5 days ago

Actually, all my kernel licenses were intended "GPL v2 or any later version".

Sorry if that makes trouble for your licensing theater group!

Cheers,
Rusty.

Tim Bird <tim.bird@sony.com> writes:
> Add SPDX-License-Identifier lines to some old kernel
> files.
>
> Signed-off-by: Tim Bird <tim.bird@sony.com>
> ---
>  kernel/cpu.c   | 3 +--
>  kernel/relay.c | 3 +--
>  2 files changed, 2 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)
>
> diff --git a/kernel/cpu.c b/kernel/cpu.c
> index 8df2d773fe3b..5185c0be847a 100644
> --- a/kernel/cpu.c
> +++ b/kernel/cpu.c
> @@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
> +// SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
>  /* CPU control.
>   * (C) 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 Rusty Russell
> - *
> - * This code is licenced under the GPL.
>   */
>  #include <linux/sched/mm.h>
>  #include <linux/proc_fs.h>
> diff --git a/kernel/relay.c b/kernel/relay.c
> index e36f6b926f7f..6ed6bc929bf9 100644
> --- a/kernel/relay.c
> +++ b/kernel/relay.c
> @@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
> +// SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
>  /*
>   * Public API and common code for kernel->userspace relay file support.
>   *
> @@ -9,8 +10,6 @@
>   * Moved to kernel/relay.c by Paul Mundt, 2006.
>   * November 2006 - CPU hotplug support by Mathieu Desnoyers
>   * 	(mathieu.desnoyers@polymtl.ca)
> - *
> - * This file is released under the GPL.
>   */
>  #include <linux/errno.h>
>  #include <linux/stddef.h>
> -- 
> 2.43.0

Re: [PATCH] kernel: add SPDX-License-Identifier lines

Posted by Karim Yaghmour 3 weeks, 3 days ago

Hi Tim,

Thanks for taking care of this following our discussion at LPC.

Just addressing the relay.c part below.

On 1/13/26 18:44, Tim Bird wrote:
> Add SPDX-License-Identifier lines to some old kernel
> files.
> 
> Signed-off-by: Tim Bird <tim.bird@sony.com>
> ---
>   kernel/cpu.c   | 3 +--
>   kernel/relay.c | 3 +--
>   2 files changed, 2 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)
> 
> diff --git a/kernel/cpu.c b/kernel/cpu.c
> index 8df2d773fe3b..5185c0be847a 100644
> --- a/kernel/cpu.c
> +++ b/kernel/cpu.c
> @@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
> +// SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
>   /* CPU control.
>    * (C) 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 Rusty Russell
> - *
> - * This code is licenced under the GPL.
>    */
>   #include <linux/sched/mm.h>
>   #include <linux/proc_fs.h>

For this part:
> diff --git a/kernel/relay.c b/kernel/relay.c
> index e36f6b926f7f..6ed6bc929bf9 100644
> --- a/kernel/relay.c
> +++ b/kernel/relay.c
> @@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
> +// SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
>   /*
>    * Public API and common code for kernel->userspace relay file support.
>    *
> @@ -9,8 +10,6 @@
>    * Moved to kernel/relay.c by Paul Mundt, 2006.
>    * November 2006 - CPU hotplug support by Mathieu Desnoyers
>    * 	(mathieu.desnoyers@polymtl.ca)
> - *
> - * This file is released under the GPL.
>    */
>   #include <linux/errno.h>
>   #include <linux/stddef.h>

Acked-by: Karim Yaghmour <karim.yaghmour@opersys.com>

Cheers,

-- 
Karim Yaghmour
CEO - Opersys inc. / www.opersys.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/karimyaghmour/

[PATCH] kernel: adjust cpu.c SPDX id

Posted by Tim Bird 1 week, 3 days ago

From: Tim Bird <tbird20d@yahoo.com>

Rusty Russell's intent was to have his files licensed as
GPL-2.0-or-later.  Reflect that intent by adjusting the
SPDX-License-Identifier line for cpu.c

Signed-off-by: Tim Bird <tbird20d@yahoo.com>
Link: https://lore.kernel.org/linux-spdx/875x8yw4n6.fsf@rustcorp.com.au/
---
 kernel/cpu.c | 2 +-
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/kernel/cpu.c b/kernel/cpu.c
index 5185c0be847a0..a7a1cf8ea8e08 100644
--- a/kernel/cpu.c
+++ b/kernel/cpu.c
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-// SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-or-later
 /* CPU control.
  * (C) 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 Rusty Russell
  */
-- 
2.21.0

Re: [PATCH] kernel: adjust cpu.c SPDX id

Posted by Peter Zijlstra 1 week, 3 days ago

On Wed, Jan 28, 2026 at 01:04:33PM -0700, Tim Bird wrote:
> From: Tim Bird <tbird20d@yahoo.com>
> 
> Rusty Russell's intent was to have his files licensed as
> GPL-2.0-or-later.  Reflect that intent by adjusting the
> SPDX-License-Identifier line for cpu.c
> 
> Signed-off-by: Tim Bird <tbird20d@yahoo.com>
> Link: https://lore.kernel.org/linux-spdx/875x8yw4n6.fsf@rustcorp.com.au/
> ---
>  kernel/cpu.c | 2 +-
>  1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)
> 
> diff --git a/kernel/cpu.c b/kernel/cpu.c
> index 5185c0be847a0..a7a1cf8ea8e08 100644
> --- a/kernel/cpu.c
> +++ b/kernel/cpu.c
> @@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
> -// SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
> +// SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-or-later
>  /* CPU control.
>   * (C) 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 Rusty Russell
>   */

While seeing this fly by (and I really don't care too deeply), I did
make me wonder to the purpose and efficacy of the SPDX header itself.

That is; while Rusty prefers GPL2+, not many of the actual lines in that
file are actually still authored by him. What if those authors prefer
something else?

That is, why are we accounting copyright per file, rather than per
author or even commit (git-blame FTW and all).

Most of the current lines (by a fair margin) seem to belong to Thomas,
so lets throw him under the bus and ponder the hypothetical that he very
strongly prefers GPL2 rather than GPL2+, how does the SPDX header make
sense?

[PATCH v2] kernel: Add SPDX-License-Identifier lines

Posted by Tim Bird 2 weeks, 5 days ago

Add SPDX-License-Identifier lines to some old kernel
files.

Signed-off-by: Tim Bird <tim.bird@sony.com>
Acked-by: Karim Yaghmour <karim.yaghmour@opersys.com>
--
V1 -> V2  Use GPL-2.0-or-later for cpu.c
---
 kernel/cpu.c   | 3 +--
 kernel/relay.c | 3 +--
 2 files changed, 2 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

diff --git a/kernel/cpu.c b/kernel/cpu.c
index 8df2d773fe3b..a7a1cf8ea8e0 100644
--- a/kernel/cpu.c
+++ b/kernel/cpu.c
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-or-later
 /* CPU control.
  * (C) 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 Rusty Russell
- *
- * This code is licenced under the GPL.
  */
 #include <linux/sched/mm.h>
 #include <linux/proc_fs.h>
diff --git a/kernel/relay.c b/kernel/relay.c
index e36f6b926f7f..6ed6bc929bf9 100644
--- a/kernel/relay.c
+++ b/kernel/relay.c
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
 /*
  * Public API and common code for kernel->userspace relay file support.
  *
@@ -9,8 +10,6 @@
  * Moved to kernel/relay.c by Paul Mundt, 2006.
  * November 2006 - CPU hotplug support by Mathieu Desnoyers
  * 	(mathieu.desnoyers@polymtl.ca)
- *
- * This file is released under the GPL.
  */
 #include <linux/errno.h>
 #include <linux/stddef.h>
-- 
2.43.0

Re: [PATCH v2] kernel: Add SPDX-License-Identifier lines

Posted by Greg KH 1 week, 4 days ago

On Mon, Jan 19, 2026 at 03:40:21PM -0700, Tim Bird wrote:
> Add SPDX-License-Identifier lines to some old kernel
> files.
> 
> Signed-off-by: Tim Bird <tim.bird@sony.com>
> Acked-by: Karim Yaghmour <karim.yaghmour@opersys.com>
> --
> V1 -> V2  Use GPL-2.0-or-later for cpu.c

I already applied v1, so can you send a fixup patch for this?

thanks,

greg k-h