For distributing youtube-dl I would like to add a minimal debian machine readable copyright file.
What should the copyright field have? It is licensed under unlicense.org
Format:http://www.debian.org/doc/packaging-manuals/copyright-format/1.0/
Files:*
Copyright:public domain
License:unlicense.org
When packaging software for a distribution, follow their guidelines on how and where to place the license file. You will probably have to place the original license text somewhere, or link to some central copy. You should be able to rip off the way other packages do it.
This is covered in detail in the guidelines to create packages for e.g. Fedora, I'd be surprised if it wasn't also included in Debian. It is an one-time cost, better pay it upfront, your home knit package might go official, and fixing that later on is a hassle if it got released into the wild (and even inadvertently go against the license, getting you in legal trouble).
What should the copyright field have? It is licensed under unlicense.org and it is: not applicable : D
– ncomputers
Mar 7 '16 at 3:04
For unlicensed software, a minimal debian machine readable copyright file should be:
Format:http://www.debian.org/doc/packaging-manuals/copyright-format/1.0/
Files:*
Copyright:not applicable
License:public-domain
explanation of the exemption
/usr/share/doc/youtube-dl/copyrightafter installing (apt-get install youtube-dl). – Faheem Mitha Mar 6 '16 at 21:04copyrightfile on jessie: metadata.ftp-master.debian.org/changelogs/main/y/youtube-dl/… – muru Mar 6 '16 at 21:06dget http://http.debian.net/debian/pool/main/y/youtube-dl/youtube-dl_2016.02.22-1.dsc, then change into the extracted directory anddpkg-buildpackage -us -uc(but I imagine you knew that already). – Stephen Kitt Mar 6 '16 at 21:42-boption to thatdpkg-buildpackagecommand to build the binary .deb package only and avoid unnecessary build of source packages. – cas Mar 6 '16 at 23:38