This package is maintained for Debian by Bdale Garbee, . It was downloaded from ftp.redhat.com, as a source .rpm from the 5.1 release. Copyright: No explicit copyright is asserted. Nick Holloway is the earliest author recorded in the sourcecode. I queried him for an explicit statement regarding the license status of this work, and this is his reply: Date: Tue, 21 Jul 1998 19:57:10 +0100 From: Nick Holloway Message-Id: <199807211857.TAA19068@alfie.demon.co.uk> To: Bdale Garbee Subject: Re: makedev license? > I maintain the makedev package for Debian GNU/Linux. I am about to move > from the ill-fated makedev-1.6 to the makedev-2.3.1 derived from your work > by the folks at Redhat. I don't see any evidence of a copyright assertion > or explicit license statement in the source. Your name appears to be the > earliest attached to the current sourcecode. Am I correct in assuming the > GPL? We try to be meticulous about having our base system be compliant > with our Debian Free Software Guidelines, so I'd like an explicit statement. It was never explictly released as GPL, as that would have required including the file COPYING which would have been much larger than the actual MAKEDEV script (I was also too lazy to find out what incantations needed to be made). However, it is intended to be used as anyone sees fit, and the statement under "Copying Policy" is "Freely Redistributable" (see MAKEDEV.lsm from any of the releases I made). The more recent modifications were done by Michael K. Johnson at Redhat. I think the understanding was that he would be taking over the maintenance of MAKEDEV (our discussion took place last September). The only previous history was (according to an old posting to comp.os.linux) that I started with Jim Winstead's script. So, as far as I am concerned, it is consistentwith the Debian FSG. -- `O O' | Home: Nick.Holloway@alfie.demon.co.uk http://www.alfie.demon.co.uk/ // ^ \\ | Work: Nick.Holloway@parallax.co.uk A complete copy of the GPL is provided on Debian systems in the file /usr/share/common-licenses/GPL.