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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 specified 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 fits 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-
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