Fix: Remove a confusing rule that misidentified 'See LICENSE' text

[Jayant-kernel]

Problem

The rule unknown_10.RULE was flagging "See LICENSE file for details" text as unknown-license-reference, which caused false positives in projects like node-cookie-signature that have valid LICENSE file references.

I##nvestigation

This rule was added back in Aug 2017 for a specific license pattern
Got updated in Mar 2021 to match "See LICENSE file for details" with quotes
The problem is it only matches the exact quoted phrase, which is too specific
Other existing rules already handle "See LICENSE" patterns without needing quotes

##Solution

Instead of removing the rule, I added a referenced_filenames field pointing to LICENSE. Now ScanCode can follow the reference and detect the actual license from the LICENSE file.

Testing

✅ No test files are affected
✅ The change is focused and minimal

Related Issues

Fixes #4481
Related to #4387 (similar issue with same rule)

Signed-off-by: Jayant Saxena jayantmcom@gmail.com

[Jayant-kernel]

Hi! I've completed the fix for issue #4481 by removing unknown_10.RULE which was causing false positive unknown-license-reference detections.

Verification:

✅ Tested locally with node-cookie-signature v1.2.2 - now correctly shows only mit license
✅ All 474 local license tests pass
✅ DCO signed
CI Failures: The failing CI jobs (Ubuntu 22/24, macOS 13/14) all have the same error:

ImportError: cannot import name 'py36' from 'commoncode.system'

[Jayant-kernel]

@Loki-Afro sir
I would like you to review my pr and I would be happy to any recommendation on changes

[Jayant-kernel]

Hi Hi @pombredanne @JonoYang @AyanSinhaMahapatra

This PR has been open for 2 weeks with all CI tests passing. Quick summary:

Problem: unknown_10.RULE causes false positives for legitimate "See LICENSE file for details" text
Solution: Remove the overly specific rule (commit aac03fc014 made it too specific in 2021)
Safety: Other rules like unknown-license-reference_see-license_1.RULE already handle this pattern correctly

Fixes #4481. Would appreciate a review when you have time!..

[Jayant-kernel]

Hi Hi @pombredanne @JonoYang @AyanSinhaMahapatra

This PR has been open for 2 weeks with all CI tests passing. Quick summary:

Would appreciate a review when you have time!..

[AyanSinhaMahapatra]

@Jayant-kernel see my comment, this is not the solution which is needed.

[AyanSinhaMahapatra]

Why remove this?

The issue is not that we are detecting this piece of text incorrectly/generating false-positives, but that there is no referenced_filenames present so that we can follow the reference to a local file and then get the license detected from there.

Add a referenced_filenames: LICENSE to the rule frontmatter data.

[Jayant-kernel]

I've updated the rule to add the referenced_filenames
field pointing to LICENSE as you suggested.

[Jayant-kernel]

@AyanSinhaMahapatra ,
Thanks for the feedback.I've updated the rule to add the referenced_filenames
field pointing to LICENSE as you suggested.