Canon PIXMA G2160 / G2060 (cnijfilter2) – Mixed License Review and Archival Feasibility

[SinghCod3r]

Printer Model

Canon PIXMA G2160 (detected as G2060)

Driver Family

IJ Printer Driver (cnijfilter2 series)

Source

Official Canon Linux source package (latest available from Canon website).

License Review Summary

The source archive contains multiple license sections:

• Appendix 1: Proprietary Canon modules (core shared libraries such as libcnbpc*.so, libcnnet*.so, etc.)
• Appendix 2: GPL v2 modules
• Appendix 3: GPL v2 modules with special linking exception

The proprietary modules listed in Appendix 1 are required for the driver to function.

Therefore, this driver is a mixed-license distribution.

Archival Feasibility

Because the proprietary modules are necessary for functionality and redistribution is restricted under Canon’s license agreement, the complete driver cannot be freely redistributed or mirrored.

This likely makes it unsuitable for inclusion or archival within the legacy-drivers repository.

Purpose of This Issue

Opening this issue for:

• Confirmation of license interpretation
• Maintainer guidance on whether any part is archivable
• Discussion of alternative approaches (documentation-only support or helper installer script)

Requesting feedback from maintainers.