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      1 $NetBSD: README,v 1.2 2025/08/25 05:30:39 rin Exp $
      2 
      3 The code within the src/external/gpl3 directories may have serious
      4 legal impacts if you are a company and redistributing or changing
      5 this code (as a company holding patents). We recommend you contact
      6 your lawyer before using it.
      7 
      8 Please do not import new GPLv3 projects without Board approval.
      9 
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     11 
     12 Statement for The NetBSD Foundation's Position on the GPLv3
     13 
     14 NetBSD provides source code with the goal for anyone to be able
     15 to use it for whatever they want, as long as they follow the simple
     16 licensing terms. Historically, most of the original code used
     17 Berkeley-style licensing and NetBSD's own code uses a simple
     18 two-clause Berkeley-style license. To summarize: modifications are
     19 allowed, the source code may be redistributed and the binaries (or
     20 executables) may be distributed as long as the copyright and
     21 disclaimer is included.  NetBSD's code may be extended and sold
     22 without sharing back the source code changes.
     23 
     24 NetBSD also uses and redistributes source code and binaries from
     25 source code obtained from external third parties. This source code
     26 is segregated by placing it in the src/external and sys/src/external
     27 directories which are categorized per license. Examples of this
     28 include:  ISC BIND, Solaris ZFS, CVS, GNU Binutils, Postfix, X.org
     29 X Windowing System, and other software that are primarily maintained
     30 outside of NetBSD.
     31 
     32 In some cases, the third-party software is licensed under terms
     33 that conflict with NetBSD's own goals. For example, the GPLv2 is
     34 a "copyleft" license  -- it requires that anyone who distributes
     35 executable or object code based on the source code, also make the
     36 source code and modifications available to the public.  (NetBSD's
     37 own code doesn't require companies to share their changes.)
     38 
     39 The GPLv3 (GNU General Public License Version 3) includes clauses
     40 that may cause additional burdens to developers or companies who
     41 may modify the source code or ship products based on the source
     42 code. The following summarizes some of these issues:
     43 
     44 - The license allows the user to circumvent measures preventing
     45 software changes (#3).  This is known as the Tivoization clause.
     46 In addition, this same clause is an anti-DRM, anti-DMCA clause --
     47 as the developer allows the end-user to attempt to circumvent or
     48 break the technological protection measures. Also, any information
     49 or authorization keys required to install or run modified versions
     50 must also be provided (#6).
     51 
     52 - The patent clause (#11) says the copyright holders grant a
     53 non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free patent license.  You may be
     54 required to extend the royalty-free patent license(s) to all
     55 recipients or future users and developers who use the code.  In
     56 addition, you may not initiate litigation for a patent infringement
     57 (#10).
     58 
     59 We recommend companies redistributing GPLv3 licensed code to
     60 consult their lawyer before using it.
     61 
     62 It is the intent of the NetBSD project to use as little GPL licensed
     63 software as possible to provide maximum freedom for development
     64 and distribution of NetBSD derived products.
     65 
     66