230 of 242
LGPL VERSION 2.1
GNU LESSER GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE
Version 2.1, February 1999
Copyright (C) 1991, 1999 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA
Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies
of this license document, but changing it is not allowed.
[This is the first released version of the Lesser GPL. It also counts
as the successor of the GNU Library Public License, version 2, hence
the version number 2.1.]
Preamble
The licenses for most software are designed to take away your free-
dom to share and change it. By contrast, the GNU General Pub-
lic Licenses are intended to guarantee your freedom to share and
change free software--to make sure the software is free for all its
users.
This license, the Lesser General Public License, applies to some spe-
cially designated software packages--typically libraries--of the Free
Software Foundation and other authors who decide to use it. You
can use it too, but we suggest you first think carefully about whe-
ther this license or the ordinary General Public License is the bet-
ter strategy to use in any particular case, based on the explanations
below.
When we speak of free software, we are referring to freedom of use,
not price. Our General Public Licenses are designed to make sure
that you have the freedom to distribute copies of free software (and
charge for this service if you wish); that you receive source code or
can get it if you want it; that you can change the software and use
pieces of it in new free programs; and that you are informed that
you can do these things.
To protect your rights, we need to make restrictions that forbid dis-
tributors to deny you these rights or to ask you to surrender these
rights. These restrictions translate to certain responsibilities for you
if you distribute copies of the library or if you modify it.
