add operator for "only this version"

spdx / license-list-XML

This is the repository for the master files that comprise the SPDX License List

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add operator for "only this version" #2472

Open jlovejoy opened 6 months ago

jlovejoy commented 6 months ago

See discussion here: https://lists.spdx.org/g/Spdx-legal/topic/105846418#msg3552

TL;DR - EUPL-1.1 and EUPL-1.2 have a default position of "or any later version" and if one wants to limit to that version only, they must indicate this. I believe there may be another license with this scenario.

Adding an operator like + to signify only-this-version would provide flexibility for such licenses.

This would require an update to the spec for the license expression annex, but we can begin the discussion here/ on the spdx-legal calls or mailing list

swinslow commented 6 months ago

@jlovejoy I'm not sure I'm in favor of adding a new operator for this use case:

As you mentioned, it would require modifying the spec. But not only the license expression annex -- also the underlying SPDX 3.0 model (e.g., adding a new class comparable to OrLaterOperator).
The spec adjustment would also require adjusting tooling to handle the new syntax.
And, it would likely result in having three different forms for the GPL family of license IDs going forwards:
1. original style (GPL-2.0, GPL-2.0+)
2. current style (GPL-2.0-only, GPL-2.0-or-later)
3. version with new operator (if the operator is e.g. =, then presumably something like GPL-2.0=)

If all of this is just because of EUPL, personally I'd be more inclined to go the -only and -or-later route, for the use cases where this comes up. As opposed to introducing a new syntax element that everyone has to parse going forward. I'm open to discussing it, but that's my immediate gut reaction.

karsten-klein commented 6 months ago

If all of this is just because of EUPL, personally I'd be more inclined to go the -only and -or-later route, for the use cases where this comes up. As opposed to introducing a new syntax element that everyone has to parse going forward. I'm open to discussing it, but that's my immediate gut reaction.

Please not! Btw, in my eyes the '+' extension (to indicate 'or any later version' as pointed out in the spec in D.3 Simple license expressions) is already possible. See https://spdx.github.io/spdx-spec/v2.3/SPDX-license-expressions/:

See line

simple-expression = license-id / license-id"+" / license-ref

Pizza-Ria commented 5 months ago

"+" for "-or-later" either intuitively makes sense or is just so widely used that it practically amounts to being intuitive. Looking at my keyboad, I don't see anything that definitely indicates ONLY so I'd be concerned that a new operator may introduce confusion or mislabelling.