6
To protect each distrib utor, we want to make it ver y clear that there i s no warranty for t he free librar y. Also,
if the library is mod ied by someone else a nd passed on, the re cipients should k now that what they have is
not the original vers ion, so that the ori ginal author’s re putation will not b e affected by probl ems that might be
introduced by other s.
Finally, software pa tents pose a consta nt threat to the exi stence of any free pro gram. We wish to make sur e that
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the full freedom of use sp ecied in this licens e.
Most GNU softwa re, including som e libraries, is cov ered by the ordinar y GNU Genera l Public License. T his
license, the GNU Less er General Publ ic License, applie s to certain desi gnated librari es, and is quite dif ferent
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those libraries in to non-free progr ams.
When a program is link ed with a librar y, whether stati cally or using a share d library, the comb ination of the two
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Public License perm its more lax cri teria for linking o ther code with the li brary.
We call this license the “Les ser” General P ublic License beca use it does Less to prote ct the user’s fre edom than
the ordinary Gen eral Public Licen se. It also provide s other free soft ware developer s Less of an advantag e over
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case, there is lit tle to gain by limitin g the free librar y to free softw are only, so we use the Less er General Publ ic
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Although the Lesser G eneral Public L icense is Less protec tive of the users’ fr eedom, it does ens ure that the user
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GNU LESSER GENER AL PUBLIC LI CENSE
TERMS AND CONDIT IONS FOR COPYING , DISTRIBU TION AND MODIFI CATION
0. This License Agreem ent applies to any sof tware librar y or other progr am which contains a not ice placed by
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