GRUB2 - Check that grub2 patching meets GPL requirements

dheurtev · September 3, 2025, 2:42pm

Problem/Justification

The GITMANIFEST file on download.truenas.com contains references to a public grub2 repo.
This repo contains only patches made to grub2, without a licence file, the modified binary or sufficient explanations regarding its build and use.

Impact

Risks of non compliance with GPL requirements.

User Story

grub2’s copyright is held by the FSF and is released under GPL.
Per the GPL FAQ, "you need to provide complete sources, not just diffs, with the binaries."

"Can I make binaries available on a network server, but send sources only to people who order them?

If you make object code available on a network server, you have to provide the Corresponding Source on a network server as well. The easiest way to do this would be to publish them on the same server, but if you’d like, you can alternatively provide instructions for getting the source from another server, or even a version control system. No matter what you do, the source should be just as easy to access as the object code, though. This is all specified in section 6(d) of GPLv3.

The sources you provide must correspond exactly to the binaries. In particular, you must make sure they are for the same version of the program—not an older version and not a newer version."

SmallBarky · September 3, 2025, 4:44pm

I think this is covered by your other thread and this isn’t really a feature request.

dheurtev · September 3, 2025, 5:00pm

Only midly related.

This thread is specific to the practices for this repository. It is process / practices oriented.

The thread you mention is broader in scope, as it is product policy/legalese oriented.

I just noticed a LICENSE and a README files have been added to the repo (Thanks to Kris Moore for fixing it).

github.com/truenas/grub2

LICENSE

master

                    GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE
                       Version 3, 29 June 2007

 Copyright (C) 2007 Free Software Foundation, Inc. <https://fsf.org/>
 Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies
 of this license document, but changing it is not allowed.

                            Preamble

  The GNU General Public License is a free, copyleft license for
software and other kinds of works.

  The licenses for most software and other practical works are designed
to take away your freedom to share and change the works.  By contrast,
the GNU General Public License is intended to guarantee your freedom to
share and change all versions of a program--to make sure it remains free
software for all its users.  We, the Free Software Foundation, use the
GNU General Public License for most of our software; it applies also to
any other work released this way by its authors.  You can apply it to
your programs, too.

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Captain_Morgan · September 4, 2025, 7:09am

Can you explain why this feature request helps your use of TrueNAS?

dheurtev · September 4, 2025, 7:31am

Adding features != Adding functionnality :

It offers greater legal clarity and confidence in the software’s use, even for enterprise users.
It guarantees that the Community Edition is genuinely Free and Open Source Software (FOSS), not merely source-available / based on open source components.
It demonstrates that TrueNAS Scale follows the principles of good GPL citizenship.
It ensures the long-term survivability of the software in the unlikely event that iXsystems is unable to continue its development.

Captain_Morgan · September 4, 2025, 11:43pm

If you’d like to contribute to the work, please let us know.