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GNU LESSER GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE
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Version 2.1, February 1999
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Copyright (C) 1991, 1999 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
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59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA
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Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies
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of this license document, but changing it is not allowed.
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[This is the first released version of the Lesser GPL. It also counts
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as the successor of the GNU Library Public License, version 2, hence
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the version number 2.1.]
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Preamble
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The licenses for most software are designed to take away your
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freedom to share and change it. By contrast, the GNU General Public
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Licenses are intended to guarantee your freedom to share and change
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free software--to make sure the software is free for all its users.
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This license, the Lesser General Public License, applies to some
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specially designated software packages--typically libraries--of the
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Free Software Foundation and other authors who decide to use it. You
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can use it too, but we suggest you first think carefully about whether
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this license or the ordinary General Public License is the better
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strategy to use in any particular case, based on the explanations below.
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When we speak of free software, we are referring to freedom of use,
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not price. Our General Public Licenses are designed to make sure that
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you have the freedom to distribute copies of free software (and charge
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for this service if you wish); that you receive source code or can get
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it if you want it; that you can change the software and use pieces of
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it in new free programs; and that you are informed that you can do
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these things.
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To protect your rights, we need to make restrictions that forbid
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distributors to deny you these rights or to ask you to surrender these
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rights. These restrictions translate to certain responsibilities for
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you if you distribute copies of the library or if you modify it.
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For example, if you distribute copies of the library, whether gratis
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or for a fee, you must give the recipients all the rights that we gave
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you. You must make sure that they, too, receive or can get the source
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code. If you link other code with the library, you must provide
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complete object files to the recipients, so that they can relink them
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with the library after making changes to the library and recompiling
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it. And you must show them these terms so they know their rights.
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We protect your rights with a two-step method: (1) we copyright the
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library, and (2) we offer you this license, which gives you legal
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permission to copy, distribute and/or modify the library.
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To protect each distributor, we want to make it very clear that
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there is no warranty for the free library. Also, if the library is
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modified by someone else and passed on, the recipients should know
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that what they have is not the original version, so that the original
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author's reputation will not be affected by problems that might be
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introduced by others.
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Finally, software patents pose a constant threat to the existence of
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any free program. We wish to make sure that a company cannot
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effectively restrict the users of a free program by obtaining a
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restrictive license from a patent holder. Therefore, we insist that
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any patent license obtained for a version of the library must be
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consistent with the full freedom of use specified in this license.
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Most GNU software, including some libraries, is covered by the
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ordinary GNU General Public License. This license, the GNU Lesser
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General Public License, applies to certain designated libraries, and
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is quite different from the ordinary General Public License. We use
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this license for certain libraries in order to permit linking those
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libraries into non-free programs.
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When a program is linked with a library, whether statically or using
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a shared library, the combination of the two is legally speaking a
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combined work, a derivative of the original library. The ordinary
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General Public License therefore permits such linking only if the
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entire combination fits its criteria of freedom. The Lesser General
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Public License permits more lax criteria for linking other code with
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the library.
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We call this license the "Lesser" General Public License because it
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does Less to protect the user's freedom than the ordinary General
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Public License. It also provides other free software developers Less
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of an advantage over competing non-free programs. These disadvantages
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are the reason we use the ordinary General Public License for many
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libraries. However, the Lesser license provides advantages in certain
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special circumstances.
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For example, on rare occasions, there may be a special need to
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encourage the widest possible use of a certain library, so that it becomes
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a de-facto standard. To achieve this, non-free programs must be
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allowed to use the library. A more frequent case is that a free
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library does the same job as widely used non-free libraries. In this
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case, there is little to gain by limiting the free library to free
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software only, so we use the Lesser General Public License.
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In other cases, permission to use a particular library in non-free
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programs enables a greater number of people to use a large body of
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free software. For example, permission to use the GNU C Library in
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non-free programs enables many more people to use the whole GNU
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operating system, as well as its variant, the GNU/Linux operating
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system.
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Although the Lesser General Public License is Less protective of the
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users' freedom, it does ensure that the user of a program that is
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linked with the Library has the freedom and the wherewithal to run
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that program using a modified version of the Library.
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The precise terms and conditions for copying, distribution and
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modification follow. Pay close attention to the difference between a
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"work based on the library" and a "work that uses the library". The
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former contains code derived from the library, whereas the latter must
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be combined with the library in order to run.
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GNU LESSER GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE
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TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR COPYING, DISTRIBUTION AND MODIFICATION
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0. This License Agreement applies to any software library or other
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program which contains a notice placed by the copyright holder or
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other authorized party saying it may be distributed under the terms of
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this Lesser General Public License (also called "this License").
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Each licensee is addressed as "you".
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A "library" means a collection of software functions and/or data
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prepared so as to be conveniently linked with application programs
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(which use some of those functions and data) to form executables.
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The "Library", below, refers to any such software library or work
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which has been distributed under these terms. A "work based on the
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Library" means either the Library or any derivative work under
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copyright law: that is to say, a work containing the Library or a
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portion of it, either verbatim or with modifications and/or translated
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straightforwardly into another language. (Hereinafter, translation is
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included without limitation in the term "modification".)
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"Source code" for a work means the preferred form of the work for
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making modifications to it. For a library, complete source code means
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all the source code for all modules it contains, plus any associated
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interface definition files, plus the scripts used to control compilation
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and installation of the library.
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Activities other than copying, distribution and modification are not
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covered by this License; they are outside its scope. The act of
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running a program using the Library is not restricted, and output from
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such a program is covered only if its contents constitute a work based
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on the Library (independent of the use of the Library in a tool for
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writing it). Whether that is true depends on what the Library does
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and what the program that uses the Library does.
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1. You may copy and distribute verbatim copies of the Library's
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complete source code as you receive it, in any medium, provided that
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you conspicuously and appropriately publish on each copy an
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appropriate copyright notice and disclaimer of warranty; keep intact
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all the notices that refer to this License and to the absence of any
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warranty; and distribute a copy of this License along with the
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Library.
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You may charge a fee for the physical act of transferring a copy,
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and you may at your option offer warranty protection in exchange for a
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fee.
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2. You may modify your copy or copies of the Library or any portion
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of it, thus forming a work based on the Library, and copy and
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distribute such modifications or work under the terms of Section 1
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above, provided that you also meet all of these conditions:
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a) The modified work must itself be a software library.
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b) You must cause the files modified to carry prominent notices
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stating that you changed the files and the date of any change.
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c) You must cause the whole of the work to be licensed at no
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charge to all third parties under the terms of this License.
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d) If a facility in the modified Library refers to a function or a
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table of data to be supplied by an application program that uses
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the facility, other than as an argument passed when the facility
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is invoked, then you must make a good faith effort to ensure that,
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in the event an application does not supply such function or
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table, the facility still operates, and performs whatever part of
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its purpose remains meaningful.
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(For example, a function in a library to compute square roots has
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a purpose that is entirely well-defined independent of the
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application. Therefore, Subsection 2d requires that any
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application-supplied function or table used by this function must
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be optional: if the application does not supply it, the square
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root function must still compute square roots.)
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These requirements apply to the modified work as a whole. If
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identifiable sections of that work are not derived from the Library,
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and can be reasonably considered independent and separate works in
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themselves, then this License, and its terms, do not apply to those
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sections when you distribute them as separate works. But when you
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distribute the same sections as part of a whole which is a work based
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on the Library, the distribution of the whole must be on the terms of
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this License, whose permissions for other licensees extend to the
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entire whole, and thus to each and every part regardless of who wrote
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it.
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Thus, it is not the intent of this section to claim rights or contest
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your rights to work written entirely by you; rather, the intent is to
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exercise the right to control the distribution of derivative or
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collective works based on the Library.
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In addition, mere aggregation of another work not based on the Library
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with the Library (or with a work based on the Library) on a volume of
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a storage or distribution medium does not bring the other work under
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the scope of this License.
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