Programming @beehaw.org promitheas @iusearchlinux.fyi 2y ago

How to specify GPL-2.0-only on github new repository

Hey everyone. I would like to specify that I want to use GPLv2 only without including support for GPLv3 in a repository I want to create. Anyone know how I can do that through github's create a new repository interface?

Much appreciated

9 comments

Just create new file called LICENSE in the root directory and and paste the license text into it.
- For manual placement I recommend putting it in COPYING since GitHub will still detect it. It's a peeve of mine that using the selector puts the GPL in LICENSE.
  
  Why don't you like putting the license in LICENSE?
- What are the differences between github's GPLv2 and the only version? Basically, where can I find the text I need to paste into LICENSE?
  
  https://opensource.org/license/gpl-2-0/
  
  There is no difference. You need to add copyright banners to your program (source code headers, output of --version, etc.). There, you specify which GPL versions apply. If you don’t specify a version number, it’s not only v2 or later, but any GPL version ever published by the FSF. See Sec. 9 of the GPLv2:
  
  If the Program specifies a version number of this License which applies to it and “any later version”, you have the option of following the terms and conditions either of that version or of any later version published by the Free Software Foundation. If the Program does not specify a version number of this License, you may choose any version ever published by the Free Software Foundation.

9 comments