Inhaltsverzeichnis
Werbung
if the library is modifi ed by someone else and passed
on, the recipients should know that what they have is
not the original version, so that the original author's
reputation will not be affected by problems that might
be introduced by others.
Finally, software patents pose a constant threat to the
existence of any free program. We wish to make sure
that a company cannot effectively restrict the users of
a free program by obtaining a restrictive license from
a patent holder. Therefore, we insist that any patent
license obtained for a version of the library must be
consistent with the full freedom of use specifi ed in this
license.
Most GNU software, including some libraries, is
covered by the ordinary GNU General Public License.
This license, the GNU Lesser General Public License,
applies to certain designated libraries, and is quite
different from the ordinary General Public License. We
use this license for certain libraries in order to permit
linking those libraries into non-free programs.
When a program is linked with a library, whether
statically or using a shared library, the combination
of the two is legally speaking a combined work, a
derivative of the original library. The ordinary General
Public License therefore permits such linking only
if the entire combination fi ts its criteria of freedom.
The Lesser General Public License permits more lax
criteria for linking other code with the library.
We call this license the "Lesser" General Public
License because it does Less to protect the user'
s freedom than the ordinary General Public License.
It also provides other free software developers Less
of an advantage over competing non-free programs.
These disadvantages are the reason we use the
ordinary General Public License for many libraries.
However, the Lesser license provides advantages in
certain special circumstances.
For example, on rare occasions, there may be a
special need to encourage the widest possible use
of a certain library, so that it becomes a de-facto
standard. To achieve this, non-free programs must
be allowed to use the library. A more frequent case is
that a free library does the same job as widely used
non-free libraries. In this case, there is little to gain by
limiting the free library to free software only, so we
use the Lesser General Public License.
In other cases, permission to use a particular library
in non-free programs enables a greater number of
people to use a large body of free software. For
example, permission to use the GNU C Library in
non-free programs enables many more people to
use the whole GNU operating system, as well as its
variant, the GNU/ Linux operating system.
Although the Lesser General Public License is Less
protective of the users' freedom, it does ensure that
the user of a program that is linked with the Library
has the freedom and the wherewithal to run that
program using a modifi ed version of the Library.
The precise terms and conditions for copying,
distribution and modifi cation follow. Pay close
attention to the difference between a "work based
on the library" and a "work that uses the library".
The former contains code derived from the library,
whereas the latter must be combined with the library
in order to run.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR COPYING,
DISTRIBUTION AND MODIFICATION
0. This License Agreement applies to any software
library or other program which contains a notice
placed by the copyright holder or other authorized
party saying it may be distributed under the terms
of this Lesser General Public License (also called
"this License"). Each licensee is addressed as
"you".
A "library" means a collection of software functions
and/ or data prepared so as to be conveniently linked
with application programs (which use some of those
functions and data) to form executables.
The "Library", below, refers to any such software
library or work which has been distributed under
these terms. A "work based on the Library" means
either the Library or any derivative work under
copyright law: that is to say, a work containing the
Library or a portion of it, either verbatim or with
modifi cations and/or translated straightforwardly into
another language. (Hereinafter, translation is included
without limitation in the term
"modifi cation".)
"Source code" for a work means the preferred form of
the work for making modifi cations to it. For a library,
complete source code means all the source code for
all modules it contains, plus any associated interface
defi nition fi les, plus the scripts used to control
compilation and installation of the library.
Activities other than copying, distribution and
modifi cation are not covered by this License; they are
outside its scope. The act of running a program using
the Library is not restricted, and output from such a
program is covered only if its contents constitute a
work based on the Library (independent of the use
of the Library in a tool for writing it). Whether that is
true depends on what the Library does and what the
program that uses the Library does.
1. You may copy and distribute verbatim copies of the
Library's complete source code as you receive it, in
Werbung
Inhaltsverzeichnis
