User's Manual

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piecesofitinnewfreeprograms;andthatyouknowyoucando
thesethings.
Toprotectyourrights,weneedtomakerestrictionsthatforbid
anyonetodenyyoutheserightsortoaskyoutosurrenderthe
rights.Theserestrictionstranslatetocertainresponsibilitiesfor
youifyoudistributecopiesofthesoftware,orifyoumodifyit.
Forexample,ifyoudistributecopiesofsuchaprogram,whether
gratisorforafee,youmustgivetherecipientsalltherightsthat
youhave.Youmustmakesurethatthey,too,receiveorcanget
thesourcecode.Andyoumustshowthemthesetermssothey
knowtheirrights.
Weprotectyourrightswithtwosteps:(1)copyrightthesoftware,
and(2)oeryouthislicensewhichgivesyoulegalpermissionto
copy,distributeand/ormodifythesoftware.
Also,foreachauthor’sprotectionandours,wewanttomake
certainthateveryoneunderstandsthatthereisnowarrantyfor
thisfreesoftware.Ifthesoftwareismodiedbysomeoneelseand
passedon,wewantitsrecipientstoknowthatwhattheyhaveis
nottheoriginal,sothatanyproblemsintroducedbyotherswill
notreectontheoriginalauthors’reputations.
Finally,anyfreeprogramisthreatenedconstantlybysoftware
patents.Wewishtoavoidthedangerthatredistributorsofafree
programwillindividuallyobtainpatentlicenses,ineectmaking
theprogramproprietary.Topreventthis,wehavemadeitclear
thatanypatentmustbelicensedforeveryone’sfreeuseornot
licensedatall.
Theprecisetermsandconditionsforcopying,distributionand
modicationfollow.