CODEWITHSUNDEEP
pythonr
M2014
M2014

Reputation: 1174

What is the meaning of this license term as "GPL (>= 3) | file LICENCE"?

When I ran package information in Anaconda for package r-copula, I got following text. I am trying to understand the license from the string "GPL (>= 3) | file LICENCE". What does the pipe bar "|" mean? What is "file LICENSE"?

r-copula 0.999_19.1 r36h6115d3f_0
---------------------------------
file name   : r-copula-0.999_19.1-r36h6115d3f_0.tar.bz2
name        : r-copula
version     : 0.999_19.1
build       : r36h6115d3f_0
build number: 0
size        : 7.2 MB
license     : GPL (>= 3) | file LICENCE
subdir      : win-64
url         : https://repo.anaconda.com/pkgs/r/win-64/r-copula-0.999_19.1-r36h6115d3f_0.tar.bz2
md5         : 503da99a957dc695e5c3c295130c3ae1
timestamp   : 2019-05-16 06:33:01 UTC

Upvotes: 3

Views: 136

Answers (1)

Gregor Thomas
Gregor Thomas

Reputation: 145985

Just as in R or Python programming, the bar means "or". The package includes a file named LICENCE, and you can use it under your choice of a GPL license version 3 or higher, or under the license specified in the LICENCE file.

If you view the copula package page on CRAN, the LICENCE gives a link to the license file. In this particular case, it doesn't actually seem to be a different choice, my reading of it is that is says the same thing: GPL license version 3 or greater. (But of course, not a lawyer, don't take my word for it---read it for yourself.)

The license field is documented in the Writing R Extensions manual. In the relevant section, they say:

Alternatives are indicated via vertical bars.

Upvotes: 4

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