dev-manual, ref-manual: Moved "Licenses" section to ref-manual

Fixes [YOCTO #11630]

Moved the "Licenses" section from the dev-manual to the ref-manual.
The information in the section is purely reference material and
does not belong in the dev-manual, which is being reconstructed
as a "how-to" manual.

(From yocto-docs rev: a89cb18f6cab6702a2bf2a0f77d46e64f82b1729)

Signed-off-by: Scott Rifenbark <srifenbark@gmail.com>
Signed-off-by: Richard Purdie <richard.purdie@linuxfoundation.org>

1 files changed, 85 insertions, 1 deletions

diff --git a/documentation/ref-manual/ref-development-environment.xml b/documentation/ref-manual/ref-development-environment.xml
index 6d4a76792e..5b0557d905 100644
--- a/documentation/ref-manual/ref-development-environment.xml
+++ b/documentation/ref-manual/ref-development-environment.xml
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@
                     <link linkend='source-directory'>Source Directory</link>
                     and the files for supported BSPs
                     (e.g., <filename>meta-intel</filename>) is to use
-                    <link linkend='git'>Git</link> to create a local copy of
+                    <ulink url='&YOCTO_DOCS_DEV_URL;#git'>Git</ulink> to create a local copy of
                     the upstream repositories.
                     </para></listitem>
                 <listitem><para>
@@ -166,6 +166,90 @@
     </para>
 </section>
 
+<section id='licensing'>
+    <title>Licensing</title>
+
+    <para>
+        Because open source projects are open to the public, they have
+        different licensing structures in place.
+        License evolution for both Open Source and Free Software has an
+        interesting history.
+        If you are interested in this history, you can find basic information
+        here:
+        <itemizedlist>
+            <listitem><para>
+                <ulink url='http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-source_license'>Open source license history</ulink>
+                </para></listitem>
+            <listitem><para>
+                <ulink url='http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_software_license'>Free software license history</ulink>
+                </para></listitem>
+        </itemizedlist>
+    </para>
+
+    <para>
+        In general, the Yocto Project is broadly licensed under the
+        Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) License.
+        MIT licensing permits the reuse of software within proprietary
+        software as long as the license is distributed with that software.
+        MIT is also compatible with the GNU General Public License (GPL).
+        Patches to the Yocto Project follow the upstream licensing scheme.
+        You can find information on the MIT license
+        <ulink url='http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php'>here</ulink>.
+        You can find information on the GNU GPL
+        <ulink url='http://www.opensource.org/licenses/LGPL-3.0'>here</ulink>.
+    </para>
+
+    <para>
+        When you build an image using the Yocto Project, the build process
+        uses a known list of licenses to ensure compliance.
+        You can find this list in the
+        <link linkend='source-directory'>Source Directory</link> at
+        <filename>meta/files/common-licenses</filename>.
+        Once the build completes, the list of all licenses found and used
+        during that build are kept in the
+        <link linkend='build-directory'>Build Directory</link>
+        at <filename>tmp/deploy/licenses</filename>.
+    </para>
+
+    <para>
+        If a module requires a license that is not in the base list, the
+        build process generates a warning during the build.
+        These tools make it easier for a developer to be certain of the
+        licenses with which their shipped products must comply.
+        However, even with these tools it is still up to the developer to
+        resolve potential licensing issues.
+    </para>
+
+    <para>
+        The base list of licenses used by the build process is a combination
+        of the Software Package Data Exchange (SPDX) list and the Open
+        Source Initiative (OSI) projects.
+        <ulink url='http://spdx.org'>SPDX Group</ulink> is a working group of
+        the Linux Foundation that maintains a specification for a standard
+        format for communicating the components, licenses, and copyrights
+        associated with a software package.
+        <ulink url='http://opensource.org'>OSI</ulink> is a corporation
+        dedicated to the Open Source Definition and the effort for reviewing
+        and approving licenses that conform to the Open Source Definition
+        (OSD).
+    </para>
+
+    <para>
+        You can find a list of the combined SPDX and OSI licenses that the
+        Yocto Project uses in the
+        <filename>meta/files/common-licenses</filename> directory in your
+        <link linkend='source-directory'>Source Directory</link>.
+    </para>
+
+    <para>
+        For information that can help you maintain compliance with various
+        open source licensing during the lifecycle of a product created using
+        the Yocto Project, see the
+        "<ulink url='&YOCTO_DOCS_DEV_URL;#maintaining-open-source-license-compliance-during-your-products-lifecycle'>Maintaining Open Source License Compliance During Your Product's Lifecycle</ulink>"
+        section.
+    </para>
+</section>
+
 <section id="development-concepts">
     <title>Development Concepts</title>