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9. The Free Software Foundation may publish revised and/
or new versions of the General Public License from time to
time. Such new versions will be similar in spirit to the present
version, but may differ in detail to address new problems or
concerns.
Each version is given a distinguishing version number. If
the Program specifies a version number of this License which
applies to it and “any later version”, you have the option of
following the terms and conditions either of that version or of
any later version published by the Free Software Foundation.
If the Program does not specify a version number of this
License, you may choose any version ever published by the
Free Software Foundation.
10. If you wish to incorporate parts of the Program into other
free programs whose distribution conditions are different, write
to the author to ask for permission. For software which is
copyrighted by the Free Software Foundation, write to the
Free Software Foundation; we sometimes make exceptions for
this. Our decision will be guided by the two goals of preserving
the free status of all derivatives of our free software and of
promoting the sharing and reuse of software generally.
NO WARRANTY
11. BECAUSE THE PROGRAM IS LICENSED FREE OF CHARGE,
THERE IS NO WARRANTY FOR THE PROGRAM, TO THE
EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW. EXCEPT WHEN
OTHERWISE STATED IN WRITING THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS
AND/OR OTHER PARTIES PROVIDE THE PROGRAM “AS IS”
WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR
IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED
WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR
A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE
QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE PROGRAM IS WITH
YOU. SHOULD THE PROGRAM PROVE DEFECTIVE, YOU
ASSUME THE COST OF ALL NECESSARY SERVICING, REPAIR
OR CORRECTION.
12. IN NO EVENT UNLESS REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE LAW OR
AGREED TO IN WRITING WILL ANY COPYRIGHT HOLDER, OR
ANY OTHER PARTY WHO MAY MODIFY AND/OR REDISTRIBUTE
THE PROGRAM AS PERMITTED ABOVE, BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR
DAMAGES, INCLUDING ANY GENERAL, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL
OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE
OR INABILITY TO USE THE PROGRAM (INCLUDING BUT
NOT LIMITED TO LOSS OF DATA OR DATA BEING RENDERED
INACCURATE OR LOSSES SUSTAINED BY YOU OR THIRD
PARTIES OR A FAILURE OF THE PROGRAM TO OPERATE WITH
ANY OTHER PROGRAMS), EVEN IF SUCH HOLDER OR OTHER
PARTY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
DAMAGES.
LGPLv2.1
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
freedom to share and change it. By contrast, the GNU General
Public 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
specially 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 whether this license or the ordinary General
Public License is the better 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 distributors 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.
For example, if you distribute copies of the library, whether
gratis or for a fee, you must give the recipients all the rights
that we gave you. You must make sure that they, too, receive
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so that they can relink them with the library after making
changes to the library and recompiling it. And you must show
them these terms so they know their rights.
We protect your rights with a two-step 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
