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hashicorp / terraform-aws-consul

A Terraform Module for how to run Consul on AWS using Terraform and Packer
Apache License 2.0
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NOTICE lists Copyright statement with no reference to a LICENSE (Legal Issue : Copyright vs. FOSS) #214

Closed bassonya closed 3 years ago

bassonya commented 3 years ago

Hello,

I'm working with my legal department and our policies on the use of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS). We are not (yet) interested in any commercial support and acknowledge the limitations around this tool.

While terraform-aws-consul does have a proper Apache 2.0 LICNESE the NOTICE is causing some questions due to the generic copyright statement and does not direct the reader to anything specific to know where the Apache Permissive license stops and a more restricted copyright picks up.

In my situation I'm working to have TFLint approved for use which uses the MPL-2.0 License model. Some of the unit testing code in that project uses this module and the author appropriately referenced the NOTICE. Here's where the issue comes into play.

If the NOTICE asserts a general Copyright statement and there is no reference to the Apache 2.0 LICNESE in that notice then the legal experts are claiming that the bounds of the Apache 2.0 license vs. what is actually copyrighted is too vague.

In short, for the sake of clarity I'm asking that the NOTICE reference the Apache 2.0 LICNESE so that the "copyleft licensing" is crystal clear for this and related projects.

brikis98 commented 3 years ago

Great question! The intention is definitely for all the code to be under the Apache 2.0 license. Let me check with our legal team on the right thing to do in the NOTICE and get back to you!

brikis98 commented 3 years ago

OK, heard back from our legal team. Sounds like calling out the license in the NOTICE file is not a strict requirement—the way the repo is laid out is clear enough—but there's no harm in adding it either. See https://github.com/hashicorp/terraform-aws-consul/pull/215.