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one; be sure to read it in full, and don't assume that
anything in it is
the same as in the ordinary license.
The reason we have a separate public license for some
libraries is that
they blur the distinction we usually make between
modifying or adding to a
program and simply using it. Linking a program with a
library, without
changing the library, is in some sense simply using the
library, 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,
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modification follow. Pay close attention to the difference
between a
"work based on the library" and a "work that uses the
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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
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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
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The "Library", below, refers to any such software library
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Activities other than copying, distribution and
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running a program using the Library is not restricted, and
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1. You may copy and distribute verbatim copies of the
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