APPENDIX
6
method: (1) we copyright the library, and (2)
we offer you this license, which gives you
legal permission to copy, distribute and/or
modify the library.
To protect each distributor, we want to make
it very clear that there is no warranty for the
free library. Also, if the library is modified 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 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-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
modified version of the Library.
The precise terms and conditions for copying,
distribution and modification 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
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2010-05-17 ｿﾀﾀ・10:44:40
