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Section 11
258 Other Product Information
and is analogous to running a utility program or application program. However, in a textual and
legal sense, the linked executable is a combined work, a derivative of the original library, and the
ordinary General Public License treats it as such.
Because of this blurred distinction, using the ordinary General Public License for libraries did not
effectively promote software sharing, because most developers did not use the libraries. We
concluded that weaker conditions might promote sharing better.
However, unrestricted linking of non-free programs would deprive the users of those programs of
all benefit from the free status of the libraries themselves. This Library General Public License is
intended to permit developers of non-free programs to use free libraries, while preserving your
freedom as a user of such programs to change the free libraries that are incorporated in them.
(We have not seen how to achieve this as regards changes in header files, but we have achieved it
as regards changes in the actual functions of the Library.) The hope is that this will lead to faster
development of free libraries.
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, while the latter only works together
with the library.
Note that it is possible for a library to be covered by the ordinary General Public License rather
than by this special one.
Terms and Conditions for Copying, Distribution and Modification
1.
This License Agreement applies to any software library which contains a notice placed by
the copyright holder or other authorized party saying it may be distributed under the terms
of this Library 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 law: that is to say, a work containing the Library or a
portion of it, either verbatim or with modifications and/or translated straightforwardly
into another language. (Hereinafter, translation is included without limitation in the term
“modification”.)
“Source code” for a work means the preferred form of the work for making modifications
to it. For a library, complete source code means all the source code for all modules it
contains, plus any associated interface definition files, plus the scripts used to control
compilation and installation of the library.
Activities other than copying, distribution and modification are not covered by this
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restricted, and output from such a program is covered only if its contents constitute a work
based on the Library (independent of the use of the Library in a tool for writing it).
Whether that is true depends on what the Library does and what the program that uses the
Library does.
2. You may copy and distribute verbatim copies of the Library's complete source code as you
receive it, in any medium, provided that you conspicuously and appropriately publish on
each copy an appropriate copyright notice and disclaimer of warranty; keep intact all the
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of this License along with the Library.