# [PATCH] clone: Warn if LICENSE or COPYING file lacking and !clone.skiplicensecheck 3 messages from 2015-03-22 to 2015-03-22. Participants: David A. Wheeler, Johannes Sixt, Duy Nguyen. Thread: https://gitlist.dev/t/38879 ## David A. Wheeler, 2015-03-22 00:16 Subject: [PATCH] clone: Warn if LICENSE or COPYING file lacking and !clone.skiplicensecheck Message-ID: URL: https://gitlist.dev/e/E1YZTZI-0002QE-3r%40rmm6prod02.runbox.com ``` Warn cloners if there is no LICENSE* or COPYING* file that makes the license clear. This is a useful warning, because if there is no license somewhere, then local copyright laws (which forbid many uses) and terms of service apply - and the cloner may not be expecting that. Many projects accidentally omit a license, so this is common enough to note. You can disable this warning by setting "clone.skiplicensecheck" to "true". For more info on the issue, feel free to see: http://choosealicense.com/no-license/ http://www.wired.com/2013/07/github-licenses/ https://twitter.com/stephenrwalli/status/247597785069789184 Signed-off-by: David A. Wheeler --- builtin/clone.c | 44 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 44 insertions(+) diff --git a/builtin/clone.c b/builtin/clone.c index 9572467..a3e8584 100644 --- a/builtin/clone.c +++ b/builtin/clone.c @@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ static int option_progress = -1; static struct string_list option_config; static struct string_list option_reference; static int option_dissociate; +static int skip_license_check; static int opt_parse_reference(const struct option *opt, const char *arg, int unset) { @@ -748,6 +749,44 @@ static void dissociate_from_references(void) die_errno(_("cannot unlink temporary alternates file")); } +static int starts_with_ignore_case(const char *str, const char *prefix) +{ + for (; ; str++, prefix++) + if (!*prefix) + return 1; + else if (tolower(*str) != tolower(*prefix)) + return 0; +} + +static int missing_license(void) +{ + DIR *dir = opendir("."); /* Examine current directory for license. */ + struct dirent *e; + struct stat st; + int ret = 0; + + if (!dir) + return 0; /* Empty directory, no need for license. */ + + while ((e = readdir(dir)) != NULL) { + if (starts_with_ignore_case(e->d_name, "license") || + starts_with_ignore_case(e->d_name, "copyright")) { + if (stat(e->d_name, &st) || st.st_size < 2) + continue; + ret = 0; + break; + } + if (!strcmp(e->d_name, ".") || !strcmp(e->d_name, "..") || + !strcmp(e->d_name, ".git")) + continue; + ret = 1; /* Non-empty directory */ + } + + closedir(dir); + return ret; +} + + int cmd_clone(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix) { int is_bundle = 0, is_local; @@ -1016,6 +1055,11 @@ int cmd_clone(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix) junk_mode = JUNK_LEAVE_REPO; err = checkout(); + git_config_get_bool("clone.skiplicensecheck", &skip_license_check); + if (!option_no_checkout && !skip_license_check && + missing_license()) + warning(_("Repository has no LICENSE or COPYING file with content.")); + strbuf_release(&reflog_msg); strbuf_release(&branch_top); strbuf_release(&key); -- 2.3.3.221.g33aa87e.dirty ``` ## Johannes Sixt, 2015-03-22 08:23 Subject: Re: [PATCH] clone: Warn if LICENSE or COPYING file lacking and !clone.skiplicensecheck Message-ID: <550E7C05.4060603@kdbg.org> URL: https://gitlist.dev/e/550E7C05.4060603%40kdbg.org In-Reply-To: ``` Am 22.03.2015 um 01:16 schrieb David A. Wheeler: > Warn cloners if there is no LICENSE* or COPYING* file that makes > the license clear. This is a useful warning, because if there is > no license somewhere, then local copyright laws (which forbid many uses) > and terms of service apply - and the cloner may not be expecting that. > Many projects accidentally omit a license, so this is common enough to note. > > You can disable this warning by setting "clone.skiplicensecheck" to "true". > > For more info on the issue, feel free to see: > http://choosealicense.com/no-license/ > http://www.wired.com/2013/07/github-licenses/ > https://twitter.com/stephenrwalli/status/247597785069789184 > > Signed-off-by: David A. Wheeler The opt-out works only when placed in the system-wide or user configuration. That places a maintenance burden on *ALL* existing installations that do not want the warning. If you really want to hard-code such a policy decision into Git, then make it an opt-in so that members of the license squad can enable it. I don't need it. -- Hannes ``` ## Duy Nguyen, 2015-03-22 09:45 Subject: Re: [PATCH] clone: Warn if LICENSE or COPYING file lacking and !clone.skiplicensecheck Message-ID: URL: https://gitlist.dev/e/CACsJy8DxUjfJ8DZ4g5bspeHARCVs9nwt9fC4wySUy0rtsCL%2B%2BA%40mail.gmail.com In-Reply-To: ``` On Sun, Mar 22, 2015 at 7:16 AM, David A. Wheeler wrote: > Warn cloners if there is no LICENSE* or COPYING* file that makes > the license clear. This is a useful warning, because if there is > no license somewhere, then local copyright laws (which forbid many uses) > and terms of service apply - and the cloner may not be expecting that. > Many projects accidentally omit a license, so this is common enough to note. > > You can disable this warning by setting "clone.skiplicensecheck" to "true". Perhaps make this a hook and maybe install by default on new clones, e.g. templates/hooks--post-checkout.sample? -- Duy ```