Hello,

Some time ago, I noticed some concerns over whether our graphics, sounds, and 
music assets are provided specifically under the GNU GPL version 2, or any 
version of the GNU GPL starting from version 2. Furthermore, I detected a 
conflict of language surrounding the game's license in the source 
distribution:

 * The /README file claims that the game's license is the one provided in the
   /COPYING file without going into any specifics about it.

 * The /copyright file claims that "this program" (presumably the Battle for
   Wesnoth) is provided under the terms of the GNU GPL version 2 or (at our
   option) any later version. This is consistent with all GNU GPL'd code under 
   src/.

 * It is a fact that some files under src/ are provided under open-source non-
   GPL licenses. For example, the Native Client thing for Chrome is provided 
   under a BSD-style license (the "Native Client" license, found in
   /NaCl-LICENSE), while the Lua library is provided under the MIT license.

After consulting Ivanovic on the matter, I decided to amend the language in 
the /README file so it matches /copyright _and_ takes into account the 
differently-licensed source code files. [1] [2] The relevant language is now 
found in the second and third paragraphs; note that the commits in question 
also change other contents of the README file.

Although he said he didn't know what versions of the GNU GPL actually applied 
to assets from directories other than src/, I thought that /copyright was 
always meant to reflect on those too. Upon further investigation, however, I 
found that I was the one to update /copyright to reflect src/ instead, years 
ago. [3] 

I seem to recall some precedent about this kind of issue elsewhere, but I'm 
not in the best position to decide about it since I'm not a manager.

The question is, should we go with the (arguably unimportant) claim that 
assets are GPL v2+ instead of strictly GPL v2-only?

Another point that in my opinion could use some clarification is the language 
employed in the add-ons server when uploading add-ons:

> All add-ons uploaded to this server must be licensed under the terms of the 
> GNU General Public License (GPL). By uploading content to this server, you
> certify that you have the right to place the content under the conditions of 
> the GPL, and choose to do so.

This notice does not specify any particular version or set of versions of the 
GNU GPL. It could be assumed that it means *any* version of the GNU GPL 
(including version 2's predecessor). On the other hand, the reference copy 
automatically added to uploaded add-ons is that of the GNU GPL version 2.

The rules for the add-ons server provided in the forums [4] do not make any 
attempt to clarify this either.

[1] http://svn.gna.org/viewcvs/wesnoth?view=revision&revision=55260
[2] http://svn.gna.org/viewcvs/wesnoth?view=revision&revision=55261
[3] http://svn.gna.org/viewcvs/wesnoth?view=revision&revision=21550
[4] http://r.wesnoth.org/t24320

-- 
Regards
  Ignacio Riquelme Morelle <shadowmaster>

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