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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.
GNU LIBRARY GENERAL
PUBLIC LICENSE
TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR COPYING,
DISTRIBUTION AND MODIFICATION
0. 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
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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
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Library or a
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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
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Activities other than copying, distribution and
modification are not
covered by this License; they are outside its scope.
The act of
running a program using the Library is not 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.
1. 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
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absence of any
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with the
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