6
To protect each distribu tor, we want to make it very clear that there is no warr anty for the free library. Also,
if the l ibrary is modi ed by someone e lse and passed on, the recipien ts shoul d know that wh at they have is
not the origi nal version , so that the origina l author’s reputation will not be affected by problems that might be
introduced by other s.
Finally, software p atents pose a const ant threat to the ex istence of any free pr ogram. We wish to make s ure that
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holder. Therefore, we insist tha t any patent lice nse obtained for a version of the librar y must be con sistent with
the full freedom of use sp ecied in this licens e.
Most GNU softwa re, inc luding so me libra ries, is covered by the ordinar y GNU Genera l Public License . This
license, th e GNU Lesser G eneral Public L icense, a pplies to certa in design ated libr aries, and is quite di fferent
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those libraries in to non-free progr ams.
When a program is linked with a library, whe ther statica lly or using a s hared librar y, the combinatio n of the two
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We call this license th e “Lesser” Ge neral Public L icense because i t does Less to pr otect the user ’s freedom than
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for many libraries . However, the Lesser licens e provides advant ages in certai n special circumst ances.
For example, o n rare occa sions, ther e may be a special need to encourage the widest possible use of a cert ain
library, so t hat it beco mes a de-fa cto stand ard. To achieve this, non-f ree progra ms must be allowed to u se the
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Although the Lesse r General Publ ic License is Less pr otective of the us ers’ freedom, it does ensure th at the user
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GNU LESSER GENER AL PUBLIC LI CENSE
TERMS AND CONDIT IONS FOR COPYING , DISTRIBU TION AND MODIFI CATION
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