manuals: document COMMERCIAL_[AUDIO|VIDEO]_PLUGINS variables

- Add COMMERCIAL_[AUDIO|VIDEO]_PLUGINS variables to the
  variable index.
- Clarify that these plugins are still open-source
- Improve line width

(From yocto-docs rev: 8b161faad6b698b33165f02e1f5e78a693c7817b)

Signed-off-by: Michael Opdenacker <michael.opdenacker@bootlin.com>
Signed-off-by: Richard Purdie <richard.purdie@linuxfoundation.org>

2 files changed, 37 insertions, 13 deletions

diff --git a/documentation/dev-manual/licenses.rst b/documentation/dev-manual/licenses.rst
index 65914e5efe..9629dc5329 100644
--- a/documentation/dev-manual/licenses.rst
+++ b/documentation/dev-manual/licenses.rst
@@ -242,10 +242,8 @@ defined in the
    COMMERCIAL_AUDIO_PLUGINS ?= ""
    COMMERCIAL_VIDEO_PLUGINS ?= ""
 
-If you
-want to enable these components, you can do so by making sure you have
-statements similar to the following in your ``local.conf`` configuration
-file::
+If you want to enable these components, you can do so by making sure you have
+statements similar to the following in your ``local.conf`` configuration file::
 
    COMMERCIAL_AUDIO_PLUGINS = "gst-plugins-ugly-mad \
        gst-plugins-ugly-mpegaudioparse"
@@ -253,20 +251,26 @@ file::
        gst-plugins-ugly-mpegstream gst-plugins-bad-mpegvideoparse"
    LICENSE_FLAGS_ACCEPTED = "commercial_gst-plugins-ugly commercial_gst-plugins-bad commercial_qmmp"
 
-
-Of course, you could also create a matching list for those
-components using the more general "commercial" in the
-:term:`LICENSE_FLAGS_ACCEPTED` variable, but that would also enable all
-the other packages with :term:`LICENSE_FLAGS`
+Of course, you could also create a matching list for those components using the
+more general "commercial" string in the :term:`LICENSE_FLAGS_ACCEPTED` variable,
+but that would also enable all the other packages with :term:`LICENSE_FLAGS`
 containing "commercial", which you may or may not want::
 
    LICENSE_FLAGS_ACCEPTED = "commercial"
 
 Specifying audio and video plugins as part of the
-``COMMERCIAL_AUDIO_PLUGINS`` and ``COMMERCIAL_VIDEO_PLUGINS`` statements
-(along with the enabling :term:`LICENSE_FLAGS_ACCEPTED`) includes the
-plugins or components into built images, thus adding support for media
-formats or components.
+:term:`COMMERCIAL_AUDIO_PLUGINS` and :term:`COMMERCIAL_VIDEO_PLUGINS` statements
+(along with :term:`LICENSE_FLAGS_ACCEPTED`) includes the plugins or
+components into built images, thus adding support for media formats or
+components.
+
+.. note::
+
+   GStreamer "ugly" and "bad" plugins are actually available through
+   open source licenses. However, the "ugly" ones can be subject to software
+   patents in some countries, making it necessary to pay licensing fees
+   to distribute them. The "bad" ones are just deemed unreliable by the
+   GStreamer community and should therefore be used with care.
 
 Maintaining Open Source License Compliance During Your Product's Lifecycle
 ==========================================================================
diff --git a/documentation/ref-manual/variables.rst b/documentation/ref-manual/variables.rst
index 117ef4b264..9b581599e3 100644
--- a/documentation/ref-manual/variables.rst
+++ b/documentation/ref-manual/variables.rst
@@ -1313,6 +1313,26 @@ system and gives an overview of their function and contents.
       optional at the distribution level, in case the hardware supports
       Bluetooth but you do not ever intend to use it.
 
+   :term:`COMMERCIAL_AUDIO_PLUGINS`
+      This variable is specific to the :yocto_git:`GStreamer recipes
+      </poky/tree/meta/recipes-multimedia/gstreamer/gstreamer1.0-meta-base.bb>`.
+      It allows to build the GStreamer `"ugly"
+      <https://github.com/GStreamer/gst-plugins-ugly>`__  and
+      `"bad" <https://github.com/GStreamer/gst-plugins-bad>`__ audio plugins.
+
+      See the :ref:`dev-manual/licenses:other variables related to commercial licenses`
+      section for usage details.
+
+   :term:`COMMERCIAL_VIDEO_PLUGINS`
+      This variable is specific to the :yocto_git:`GStreamer recipes
+      </poky/tree/meta/recipes-multimedia/gstreamer/gstreamer1.0-meta-base.bb>`.
+      It allows to build the GStreamer `"ugly"
+      <https://github.com/GStreamer/gst-plugins-ugly>`__  and
+      `"bad" <https://github.com/GStreamer/gst-plugins-bad>`__ video plugins.
+
+      See the :ref:`dev-manual/licenses:other variables related to commercial licenses`
+      section for usage details.
+
    :term:`COMMON_LICENSE_DIR`
       Points to ``meta/files/common-licenses`` in the
       :term:`Source Directory`, which is where generic license