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References: <20231219-libstringheader-v4-0-aaeb26495d2f@google.com>
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 <CAE-cH4p-TzH3zyJfmSg3r=fw78j8y-0t0dp-NvaLyVYAMULw1w@mail.gmail.com> <2023121928-propose-florist-5898@gregkh>
In-Reply-To: <2023121928-propose-florist-5898@gregkh>
From: Nick Desaulniers <ndesaulniers@google.com>
Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2023 15:00:22 -0800
Message-ID: <CAKwvOdnW_vZyiO3BE=Vce4OrcX4+pb6QrEFbmeya0Z+w_5d=zw@mail.gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [PATCH v4 1/2] kernel.h: removed REPEAT_BYTE from kernel.h
To: Greg KH <gregkh@linuxfoundation.org>, Tanzir Hasan <tanzirh@google.com>, 
	Ingo Molnar <mingo@kernel.org>
Cc: Kees Cook <keescook@chromium.org>, Andy Shevchenko <andy@kernel.org>, 
	linux-hardening@vger.kernel.org, linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org, 
	Andrew Morton <akpm@linux-foundation.org>, llvm@lists.linux.dev, 
	Al Viro <viro@zeniv.linux.org.uk>, Andy Shevchenko <andy.shevchenko@gmail.com>
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On Tue, Dec 19, 2023 at 11:10=E2=80=AFAM Greg KH <gregkh@linuxfoundation.or=
g> wrote:
>
> > > Legal note, this file is NOT copyright Google as no Google employe
> > > actually wrote the logcal contents of it.
> > >
> > > Please be VERY careful when doing stuff like this, it has potentially
> > > big repercussions, and you don't want to have to talk to lots of
> > > lawyers a few years from now and explain how you messed it all up :(
> > >
> > > Nick, odds are there's a Google copyright class that Tanzir should ta=
ke
> > > here, if not, I recommend the free LF one that anyone can take online
> > > that explains the issues here:
> > >         https://training.linuxfoundation.org/training/open-source-lic=
ensing-basics-for-software-developers/
>
> Please take the time to either learn what the Google-specific rules are,
> or take the above training, before submitting a new version of the
> patch.

It was my mistake to suggest to Tanzir to add his copyright to this
newly created header. I'm sorry; we do have such resources available
and I should have reviewed them.

I've:
1. reviewed our internal training materials on copyright assignment
  - go/gti-os-self-study
  - go/patching#license-headers-and-copyright-notices
2. reviewed kernel docs:
  - Documentation/process/1.Intro.rst
  - Documentation/process/kernel-enforcement-statement.rst
3. asked Tanzir to do the same
4. discovered who to ask internally for further questions
<opensource-licensing@google.com>

Is there further due diligence you would like to see?

---

For Google specific guidance, I'll quote what they have:

> License Headers and Copyright Notices
> Googlers should add Google's copyright notice (or a "The Project Authors"=
 style copyright notice) to new files being added to the library if permitt=
ed by the project maintainers.

Then the relevant section of 1.Intro.rst:

> Copyright assignments are not required (or requested) for code contribute=
d
> to the kernel.

Shall I interpret those together to mean that the "project
maintainers" don't permit copyright assignments for "new files being
added," and thus Tanzir SHOULD NOT be adding a copyright assignment to
the newly created header?

Or shall I leave the interpretation up to an explicit discussion with
opensource-licensing@google.com?

---

While I think we have the answer for Tanzir's patch, I don't think we
do for if we intend to split other header files in the future if those
have explicit copyright assignments.  I wonder if this question has
come up in Ingo's header refactoring work, and if so, what the
guidance is there?

For example, consider include/linux/sysfs.h.  It's 600+ lines long and
contains 4 copyright assignments explicitly in sources. If we split
that header file in half, which copyright assignments do we transfer
to the new half, if any?
--=20
Thanks,
~Nick Desaulniers