Comment 21 for bug 435183

I recently needed to create a debian package for a commercial application. This application would not be distributed through the ubuntu software center.

After creating the debian package with the custom licence in the copyright file I installed the application using by double clicking on the deb file. This launched the ubuntu software center which showed the licence as "unknown".

I then read about the new machine readable copyright format and changed my package to use this hoping it would now display the licence. Sadly the ubuntu software center still shows 'unknown'.

Coming from the commercial world, the company I work for expects the user to be informed of the licence during the installation process. They are familiar with windows installers where the user is shown the licence and must agree to it before installing.

I realize that in the open source world a user does not need to be shown or agree to the licence as they do not restrict user freedoms. However as ubuntu gains popularity, more companies are looking to bring there proprietary applications to ubuntu. And these companies have expectations regarding the install process when it comes to there licence.