[GH-ISSUE #273] semver specification is not clear on how to properly attribute as per license requirements (example needed) #5314

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GiteaMirror · 2026-06-15T11:36:44-05:00

GiteaMirror commented

2026-06-15 11:36:44 -05:00

Originally created by @allanhaywood on GitHub (Sep 10, 2015).
Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/semver/semver/issues/273

The below definition is in the linked license, but no guidance on what is appropriate is given (at least I couldn't find any). In order to adhere to the licensing requirements, it is necessary to provide examples and guidance as to what is appropriate credit.

Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.

Originally created by @allanhaywood on GitHub (Sep 10, 2015). Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/semver/semver/issues/273 The below definition is in the linked license, but no guidance on what is appropriate is given (at least I couldn't find any). In order to adhere to the licensing requirements, it is necessary to provide examples and guidance as to what is appropriate credit. Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.

GiteaMirror closed this issue

2026-06-15 11:36:45 -05:00

GiteaMirror commented

2026-06-15 11:36:46 -05:00

@haacked commented on GitHub (Sep 11, 2015):

The words "appropriate credit" are a tooltip.

If supplied, you must provide the name of the creator and attribution parties, a copyright notice, a license notice, a disclaimer notice, and a link to the material. CC licenses prior to Version 4.0 also require you to provide the title of the material if supplied, and may have other slight differences.

The license is a Creative Common license. You can find out a lot more about it here: https://creativecommons.org/

@haacked commented on GitHub (Sep 11, 2015): The words "appropriate credit" are a tooltip. > If supplied, you must provide the name of the creator and attribution parties, a copyright notice, a license notice, a disclaimer notice, and a link to the material. CC licenses prior to Version 4.0 also require you to provide the title of the material if supplied, and may have other slight differences. The license is a Creative Common license. You can find out a lot more about it here: https://creativecommons.org/

GiteaMirror commented

2026-06-15 11:36:46 -05:00

@allanhaywood commented on GitHub (Sep 12, 2015):

The problem is that both the tooltip (I read that already) and information found at the creativecommons.org site is way too generic to provide clear guidance on how to properly attribute semver.

For example, I have decided to implement versioning in our product that would allow us to adhere to versioning as defined in the semver spec. As this isn't something like a photograph that can have a caption, or even human readable files (the release is compiled), it isn't clear at all what is expected.

Is it enough to attribute as a comment in the header of our source code (which is not released in any way)? Or, every time someone executes our product with -V that not only the version info is shown, but should the attribution be shown too? Should it also mandate that something like a README is included with the software distribution that also contains the attribution?

I am looking for very specific guidance with snipets of text that can be easily copied and pasted into place, as it pertains to semver, anything less and I would just be making an educated guess as to what the creators of semver expect.

@allanhaywood commented on GitHub (Sep 12, 2015): The problem is that both the tooltip (I read that already) and information found at the creativecommons.org site is way too generic to provide clear guidance on how to properly attribute semver. For example, I have decided to implement versioning in our product that would allow us to adhere to versioning as defined in the semver spec. As this isn't something like a photograph that can have a caption, or even human readable files (the release is compiled), it isn't clear at all what is expected. Is it enough to attribute as a comment in the header of our source code (which is not released in any way)? Or, every time someone executes our product with -V that not only the version info is shown, but should the attribution be shown too? Should it also mandate that something like a README is included with the software distribution that also contains the attribution? I am looking for very specific guidance with snipets of text that can be easily copied and pasted into place, as it pertains to semver, anything less and I would just be making an educated guess as to what the creators of semver expect.

GiteaMirror commented

2026-06-15 11:36:47 -05:00

@haacked commented on GitHub (Sep 14, 2015):

For example, I have decided to implement versioning in our product that would allow us to adhere to versioning as defined in the semver spec. As this isn't something like a photograph that can have a caption, or even human readable files (the release is compiled), it isn't clear at all what is expected.

As far as I know, adhering to the spec doesn't require attribution. If I make a meal from a recipe in a cookbook, I don't have to attribute the recipe in the meal.

The attribution only is required if you copy SemVer or create a derivative of SemVer. You'd attribute SemVer wherever you post the copy/derivative. Does that make sense?

@haacked commented on GitHub (Sep 14, 2015): > For example, I have decided to implement versioning in our product that would allow us to adhere to versioning as defined in the semver spec. As this isn't something like a photograph that can have a caption, or even human readable files (the release is compiled), it isn't clear at all what is expected. As far as I know, _adhering_ to the spec doesn't require attribution. If I make a meal from a recipe in a cookbook, I don't have to attribute the recipe in the meal. The attribution only is required if you copy SemVer or create a derivative of SemVer. You'd attribute SemVer wherever you post the copy/derivative. Does that make sense?

GiteaMirror commented

2026-06-15 11:36:48 -05:00

@allanhaywood commented on GitHub (Sep 14, 2015):

I was thinking that might be the case, but wanted to make sure.

Thank you.

@allanhaywood commented on GitHub (Sep 14, 2015): I was thinking that might be the case, but wanted to make sure. Thank you.

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Reference: github-starred/semver#5314