Lintian tag: copyright-refers-to-versionless-license-file

Type: warning

Description (from lintian-explain-tags)

The copyright file refers to the versionless symlink in
/usr/share/common-licenses for the full text of the GPL, LGPL, or GFDL
license, but the package does not appear to allow distribution under later
versions of the license. This symlink will change with each release of a
new version of the license and may therefore point to a different version
than the package is released under. debian/copyright should instead refers
to the specific version of the license that the package references.

For example, if the package says something like "you can redistribute it
and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as
published by the Free Software Foundation; version 2 dated June, 1991,"
the debian/copyright file should refer to
/usr/share/common-licenses/GPL-2, not /GPL.

Visibility: warning
Show-Always: no
Check: debian/copyright

Affected packages

source version binary level tag count information
bibcursed 2.0.1-0.2 bibcursed/2.0.1-0.2 warning copyright-refers-to-versionless-license-file 9 usr/share/common-licenses/GPL
bytecode 0.92.svn.20090106-3 libbytecode-java/0.92.svn.20090106-3 warning copyright-refers-to-versionless-license-file 1 usr/share/common-licenses/LGPL
bytecode 0.92.svn.20090106-3 libbytecode-java-doc/0.92.svn.20090106-3 warning copyright-refers-to-versionless-license-file 1 usr/share/common-licenses/LGPL
edbrowse 3.8.12-1 edbrowse/3.8.12-1 overridden copyright-refers-to-versionless-license-file 9 usr/share/common-licenses/GPL
evince 48.1-4 evince/48.1-4 overridden copyright-refers-to-versionless-license-file 9 usr/share/common-licenses/GPL
evince 48.1-4 evince-common/48.1-4 overridden copyright-refers-to-versionless-license-file 1 usr/share/common-licenses/GPL
evince 48.1-4 gir1.2-evince-3.0/48.1-4 overridden copyright-refers-to-versionless-license-file 9 usr/share/common-licenses/GPL
evince 48.1-4 libevdocument3-4t64/48.1-4 overridden copyright-refers-to-versionless-license-file 9 usr/share/common-licenses/GPL
evince 48.1-4 libevince-dev/48.1-4 overridden copyright-refers-to-versionless-license-file 9 usr/share/common-licenses/GPL
evince 48.1-4 libevview3-3t64/48.1-4 overridden copyright-refers-to-versionless-license-file 9 usr/share/common-licenses/GPL
garlic-doc 1.6-3 garlic-doc/1.6-3 warning copyright-refers-to-versionless-license-file 1 usr/share/common-licenses/GPL
hylafax 3:6.0.7-13 hylafax-client/3:6.0.7-13 overridden copyright-refers-to-versionless-license-file 9 usr/share/common-licenses/GPL
hylafax 3:6.0.7-13 hylafax-client-dbg/3:6.0.7-13 warning copyright-refers-to-versionless-license-file 9 usr/share/common-licenses/GPL
hylafax 3:6.0.7-13 hylafax-server/3:6.0.7-13 overridden copyright-refers-to-versionless-license-file 9 usr/share/common-licenses/GPL
hylafax 3:6.0.7-13 hylafax-server-dbg/3:6.0.7-13 warning copyright-refers-to-versionless-license-file 9 usr/share/common-licenses/GPL
libvcflib 1.0.12+dfsg-1 libvcflib2/1.0.12+dfsg-1 overridden copyright-refers-to-versionless-license-file 5 usr/share/common-licenses/LGPL
libvcflib 1.0.12+dfsg-1 libvcflib-dev/1.0.12+dfsg-1 overridden copyright-refers-to-versionless-license-file 5 usr/share/common-licenses/LGPL
libvcflib 1.0.12+dfsg-1 libvcflib-tools/1.0.12+dfsg-1 overridden copyright-refers-to-versionless-license-file 5 usr/share/common-licenses/LGPL
mrcal 2.4.1-4 libmrcal4/2.4.1-4+b2 overridden copyright-refers-to-versionless-license-file 9 usr/share/common-licenses/LGPL
mrcal 2.4.1-4 libmrcal-dev/2.4.1-4+b2 overridden copyright-refers-to-versionless-license-file 9 usr/share/common-licenses/LGPL
mrcal 2.4.1-4 mrcal/2.4.1-4+b2 overridden copyright-refers-to-versionless-license-file 9 usr/share/common-licenses/LGPL
mrcal 2.4.1-4 python3-mrcal/2.4.1-4+b2 overridden copyright-refers-to-versionless-license-file 9 usr/share/common-licenses/LGPL
paraview 5.13.2+dfsg-3 paraview/5.13.2+dfsg-3+b4 warning copyright-refers-to-versionless-license-file 5 usr/share/common-licenses/GPL
paraview 5.13.2+dfsg-3 paraview-dev/5.13.2+dfsg-3+b4 warning copyright-refers-to-versionless-license-file 5 usr/share/common-licenses/GPL
paraview 5.13.2+dfsg-3 paraview-doc/5.13.2+dfsg-3 warning copyright-refers-to-versionless-license-file 1 usr/share/common-licenses/GPL
paraview 5.13.2+dfsg-3 python3-paraview/5.13.2+dfsg-3+b4 warning copyright-refers-to-versionless-license-file 5 usr/share/common-licenses/GPL
postfix-gld 1.7-11 postfix-gld/1.7-11 warning copyright-refers-to-versionless-license-file 9 usr/share/common-licenses/GPL
python-gnuplotlib 0.45-1 python3-gnuplotlib/0.45-1 warning copyright-refers-to-versionless-license-file 1 usr/share/common-licenses/LGPL
python-numpysane 0.42-1 python3-numpysane/0.42-1 warning copyright-refers-to-versionless-license-file 1 usr/share/common-licenses/LGPL
python-pygraphviz 1.14-2 python3-pygraphviz/1.14-2 warning copyright-refers-to-versionless-license-file 9 usr/share/common-licenses/GPL
python-pygraphviz 1.14-2 python-pygraphviz-doc/1.14-2 warning copyright-refers-to-versionless-license-file 1 usr/share/common-licenses/GPL
racket 8.18+dfsg1-1 racket/8.18+dfsg1-1 warning copyright-refers-to-versionless-license-file 9 usr/share/common-licenses/GPL
racket 8.18+dfsg1-1 racket-common/8.18+dfsg1-1 warning copyright-refers-to-versionless-license-file 1 usr/share/common-licenses/GPL
racket 8.18+dfsg1-1 racket-doc/8.18+dfsg1-1 warning copyright-refers-to-versionless-license-file 1 usr/share/common-licenses/GPL
r-bioc-ballgown 2.38.0+dfsg-2 r-bioc-ballgown/2.38.0+dfsg-2 warning copyright-refers-to-versionless-license-file 1 usr/share/common-licenses/LGPL
r-cran-ddalpha 1.3.16-1 r-cran-ddalpha/1.3.16-1 overridden copyright-refers-to-versionless-license-file 9 usr/share/common-licenses/LGPL
r-cran-jomo 2.7-6-1 r-cran-jomo/2.7-6-1 warning copyright-refers-to-versionless-license-file 7 usr/share/common-licenses/LGPL
r-cran-jomo 2.7-6-1 r-cran-jomo/2.7-6-1+b1 warning copyright-refers-to-versionless-license-file 2 usr/share/common-licenses/LGPL
ruby-sdoc 1.1.0-1 ruby-sdoc/1.1.0-1 overridden copyright-refers-to-versionless-license-file 1 usr/share/common-licenses/GPL
seyon 2.20c-37 seyon/2.20c-37 warning copyright-refers-to-versionless-license-file 9 usr/share/common-licenses/GPL
ttf-ancient-fonts 2.60-3 fonts-ancient-scripts/2.60-3 warning copyright-refers-to-versionless-license-file 1 usr/share/common-licenses/GPL
ttf-ancient-fonts 2.60-3 fonts-symbola/2.60-3 warning copyright-refers-to-versionless-license-file 1 usr/share/common-licenses/GPL
tthsum 1.3.2-1 tthsum/1.3.2-1+b1 warning copyright-refers-to-versionless-license-file 4 usr/share/common-licenses/GPL
tthsum 1.3.2-1 tthsum/1.3.2-1+b2 warning copyright-refers-to-versionless-license-file 4 usr/share/common-licenses/GPL
tthsum 1.3.2-1 tthsum/1.3.2-1+b3 warning copyright-refers-to-versionless-license-file 1 usr/share/common-licenses/GPL
uudeview 0.5.20+20250228-1 libuu0/0.5.20+20250228-1 warning copyright-refers-to-versionless-license-file 9 usr/share/common-licenses/GPL
uudeview 0.5.20+20250228-1 libuu-dev/0.5.20+20250228-1 warning copyright-refers-to-versionless-license-file 9 usr/share/common-licenses/GPL
uudeview 0.5.20+20250228-1 uudeview/0.5.20+20250228-1 warning copyright-refers-to-versionless-license-file 9 usr/share/common-licenses/GPL
uudeview 0.5.20+20250228-1 xdeview/0.5.20+20250228-1 warning copyright-refers-to-versionless-license-file 9 usr/share/common-licenses/GPL
wmwave 0.4-11.2 wmwave/0.4-11.2 warning copyright-refers-to-versionless-license-file 9 usr/share/common-licenses/GPL
xcalib 0.8.dfsg1-5 xcalib/0.8.dfsg1-5 warning copyright-refers-to-versionless-license-file 9 usr/share/common-licenses/GPL
xfonts-bolkhov 1.1.20001007-10 xfonts-bolkhov-75dpi/1.1.20001007-10 warning copyright-refers-to-versionless-license-file 1 usr/share/common-licenses/GPL
xfonts-bolkhov 1.1.20001007-10 xfonts-bolkhov-cp1251-75dpi/1.1.20001007-10 warning copyright-refers-to-versionless-license-file 1 usr/share/common-licenses/GPL
xfonts-bolkhov 1.1.20001007-10 xfonts-bolkhov-cp1251-misc/1.1.20001007-10 warning copyright-refers-to-versionless-license-file 1 usr/share/common-licenses/GPL
xfonts-bolkhov 1.1.20001007-10 xfonts-bolkhov-isocyr-75dpi/1.1.20001007-10 warning copyright-refers-to-versionless-license-file 1 usr/share/common-licenses/GPL
xfonts-bolkhov 1.1.20001007-10 xfonts-bolkhov-isocyr-misc/1.1.20001007-10 warning copyright-refers-to-versionless-license-file 1 usr/share/common-licenses/GPL
xfonts-bolkhov 1.1.20001007-10 xfonts-bolkhov-koi8r-75dpi/1.1.20001007-10 warning copyright-refers-to-versionless-license-file 1 usr/share/common-licenses/GPL
xfonts-bolkhov 1.1.20001007-10 xfonts-bolkhov-koi8r-misc/1.1.20001007-10 warning copyright-refers-to-versionless-license-file 1 usr/share/common-licenses/GPL
xfonts-bolkhov 1.1.20001007-10 xfonts-bolkhov-koi8u-75dpi/1.1.20001007-10 warning copyright-refers-to-versionless-license-file 1 usr/share/common-licenses/GPL
xfonts-bolkhov 1.1.20001007-10 xfonts-bolkhov-koi8u-misc/1.1.20001007-10 warning copyright-refers-to-versionless-license-file 1 usr/share/common-licenses/GPL
xfonts-bolkhov 1.1.20001007-10 xfonts-bolkhov-misc/1.1.20001007-10 warning copyright-refers-to-versionless-license-file 1 usr/share/common-licenses/GPL