Operation Manual

Appendix
227
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 or can get the source code.
If you link other code with the library, you must provide complete
object files to the recipients, 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