Trademark and License Information 55
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GNU LESSER GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE

Version 2.1, February 1999

Copyright (C) 1991, 1999 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA
Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this license d ocument, but changing it is not allowed.
[This is the first released version of the Le sser GPL. It also counts as the successor of the GNU Library Public
License, version 2, hence the version number 2.1.]

Preamble

The licenses for most software are designe d to take away your freedom to share and change it. By contrast, the GNU
General Public Licenses are intended to guarantee your free dom to share and change free software--to make sure the
software is free for all its users.
This license, the Lesser General Public License, ap plies to some specially designated software packages--typica lly
libraries--of the Free Software Foundation and other autho rs who decide to use it. You can use it too, but we suggest
you first think carefully about whether this license or the ordinar y General Public License is the 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 pr ice. Our General Public Licenses are
designed to make sure that you have the freedom to distribute copies of free software (and cha rge 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 pi eces
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 tr anslate 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 wi th the library
after making changes to the library and recom piling 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 pass ed 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 mig ht 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 fre e program by obtaining a restrictive license from a patent
holder. Therefore, we insist that any patent license obtained for a version of the library mu st be consistent with the full
freedom of use specified in this license.
Most GNU software, including some libraries, is covered by the ordin ary GNU General Public License. This license,
the GNU Lesser General Public License, applies to cer tain designated libraries, and is quite different from the ordinar y
General Public License. We use this license for certa in libraries in order to permit linking those libraries into non-free
programs.
When a program is linked with a library, whether statically or using a share d library, the combination of the two is
legally speaking a combined work, a derivative of the original librar y. The ordinary General Public License therefore
permits such linking only if the entire combination fits its criter ia of freedom. The Lesser General Public License
permits more lax criteria for linking other code with the libr ary.
We call this license the “Lesser” General Public Licens e because it does Less to protect the user’s freedom than the
ordinary General Public License. It also provide s other free software developers Less of an advantage over competing
non-free programs. These disadvantages are the rea son we use the ordinary General Public License for many librar-
ies. However, the Lesser license provides advantages in certain special ci rcumstances.
For example, on rare occasions, there may be a special need to encou rage the widest possible use of a certain
library, so that it becomes a de-facto standard. To achieve this, non-free programs must be allowed to use the librar y.
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