WordPress/gutenberg

`check-licenses`: GPLv3 isn't recognized as a compatible license

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#20701 opened on Mar 8, 2020

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Good First Issue[Tool] WP Scripts[Type] Developer Documentation

Description

Re: https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/blob/%40wordpress/scripts%407.1.2/packages/scripts/scripts/check-licenses.js#L36

May be related: #7821

Describe the bug

GPLv3+ should be recognized as compatible, per: A) https://github.com/WordPress/WordPress/blob/5.3.2/readme.html#L94-L95

WordPress is free software, and is released under the terms of the GPL (GNU General Public License) version 2 or (at your option) any later version.

and

B) https://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-list.en.html#GNUGPL

Please note that GPLv3 is not compatible with GPLv2 by itself. However, most software released under GPLv2 allows you to use the terms of later versions of the GPL as well. When this is the case, you can use the code under GPLv3 to make the desired combination. ... links to https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#AllCompatibility ... screenshot of it:

image

To reproduce

In your plugin's package.json, set "license": "GPL-3.0-or-later", then run wp-scripts check-licenses and you'll get this message:

ERROR Module your-plugin has an incompatible license 'GPL-3.0-or-later'.

Change the package.json to "license": "GPL-2.0-or-later", re-run, and no messages.

Expected behavior

No error message with GPLv3+.

See comment from @pento to learn about the proposed solution: https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/20701#issuecomment-761961307.

Contributor guide

Tech stack
javascriptnodejs
Domain
clitoolingdeveloper experience
Issue type
bug
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
2
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
under 1 hour
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
stale
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
clear
Prerequisites
JavaScriptLicense compatibilityWordPress licensing
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
80
Research direction
The issue is in packages/scripts/scripts/check licenses.js, specifically around line 36 where compatible licenses are listed. A proposed solution from maintainer @pento (see comment #761961307) suggests adding GPL 3.0 or later to the list. Additionally, ensure GPL 2.0 or later still works and consider adding a note about license compatibility. No pull request currently exists.