linux-kernel - Re: [PATCH] LICENSES: Explicitly allow SPDX-FileCopyrightText

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Message-ID: <2026010726-crusader-recoup-4825@gregkh>
Date: Wed, 7 Jan 2026 20:35:14 +0100
From: Greg Kroah-Hartman <gregkh@...uxfoundation.org>
To: Joe Perches <joe@...ches.com>
Cc: Krzysztof Kozlowski <krzysztof.kozlowski@....qualcomm.com>,
	Thomas Gleixner <tglx@...utronix.de>,
	Jonathan Corbet <corbet@....net>,
	Andy Whitcroft <apw@...onical.com>,
	Dwaipayan Ray <dwaipayanray1@...il.com>,
	Lukas Bulwahn <lukas.bulwahn@...il.com>, linux-spdx@...r.kernel.org,
	workflows@...r.kernel.org, linux-doc@...r.kernel.org,
	linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org,
	Linus Torvalds <torvalds@...ux-foundation.org>
Subject: Re: [PATCH] LICENSES: Explicitly allow SPDX-FileCopyrightText

On Wed, Jan 07, 2026 at 10:40:11AM -0800, Joe Perches wrote:
> On Wed, 2026-01-07 at 18:12 +0100, Krzysztof Kozlowski wrote:
> > Sources already have SPDX-FileCopyrightText (~40 instances) and more
> > appear on the mailing list, so document that it is allowed.  On the
> > other hand SPDX defines several other tags like SPDX-FileType, so add
> > checkpatch rule to narrow desired tags only to two of them - license and
> > copyright.  That way no new tags would sneak in to the kernel unnoticed.
> 
> I find no value in this tag.  I think it should be discouraged.
> 
> How is it different or more useful than a typical Copyright or © symbol ?

It's easier to parse automatically and put into other places (like a
software bill of materials).

I don't like it all that much either, as really, it doesn't mean much
(go talk to a lawyer for details), but it's already in our tree so we
might as well document it...

thanks,

greg k-h