On 23/06/20 08:41, Miles Rout wrote:
> It requires the notice is included (so people know that that code is 
> available elsewhere under that licence), not that the notice is included _as 
> your licence for the overall work_.

As someone else said, "words do matter". Copyright notice is not "just words", 
it is important and carries legal weight. Expat license requires that the 
copyright and permission notices are left intact in (and thus apply to) "all 
copies" or "substantial portions" of the software. In this, it is not entirely
"permissive".

It is implied that the software which is mentioned here is the original code as 
published by the original author. If someone makes additional code which 
complements that program but is otherwise newly introduced to the program, he 
can (sub)license (according to terms of Expat license) the additional code 
under a different license, provided it is compatible with Expat. GNU GPL is 
such a compatible license.[1]


> Works as wholes are licensed under 
> copyright licences, not parts of works.

False. Parts of works can be licensed under different licenses and combined 
into a single unit, provided the two licenses are compatible. See [1].

The same program can even be multi-licensed by the copyright holder (original 
author).[2]


> I don't think relicensing is particularly relevant: the question is whether 
> your work, i.e. the whole program you have published, which includes both 
> code you wrote and you did not write, is able to be licensed under the GPL. 
> That is about licence compatibility.

Let us recall the original message:

> I'm curious about licensing and was wondering why suckless tools are released 
> under MIT rather than an alternative like GPL. Is it just to make it 
> compatible 
> with more other software?

So yeah, the topic is about potential relicensing of suckless software under 
GNU GPL.

Still, as far as compatibility goes, the question is already answered multiple 
times here: Expat license is compatible with the GNU GPL.[3]


[1]: https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#WhatDoesCompatMean
[2]: https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#HeardOtherLicense
[3]: https://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-list.html#Expat

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