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8 <H1>GNU General Public License</H1>
15 <H2>Table of Contents</H2>
18 <LI><A NAME="TOC1" HREF="gpl.html#SEC1">GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE</A>
20 <LI><A NAME="TOC2" HREF="gpl.html#SEC2">Preamble</A>
21 <LI><A NAME="TOC3" HREF="gpl.html#SEC3">TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR COPYING, DISTRIBUTION AND MODIFICATION</A>
22 <LI><A NAME="TOC4" HREF="gpl.html#SEC4">How to Apply These Terms to Your New Programs</A>
35 <H2><A NAME="SEC1" HREF="gpl.html#TOC1">GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE</A></H2>
42 Copyright (C) 1989, 1991 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
43 59 Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA
45 Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies
46 of this license document, but changing it is not allowed.
51 <H2><A NAME="SEC2" HREF="gpl.html#TOC2">Preamble</A></H2>
54 The licenses for most software are designed to take away your
55 freedom to share and change it. By contrast, the GNU General Public
56 License is intended to guarantee your freedom to share and change free
57 software--to make sure the software is free for all its users. This
58 General Public License applies to most of the Free Software
59 Foundation's software and to any other program whose authors commit to
60 using it. (Some other Free Software Foundation software is covered by
61 the GNU Library General Public License instead.) You can apply it to
66 When we speak of free software, we are referring to freedom, not
67 price. Our General Public Licenses are designed to make sure that you
68 have the freedom to distribute copies of free software (and charge for
69 this service if you wish), that you receive source code or can get it
70 if you want it, that you can change the software or use pieces of it
71 in new free programs; and that you know you can do these things.
75 To protect your rights, we need to make restrictions that forbid
76 anyone to deny you these rights or to ask you to surrender the rights.
77 These restrictions translate to certain responsibilities for you if you
78 distribute copies of the software, or if you modify it.
82 For example, if you distribute copies of such a program, whether
83 gratis or for a fee, you must give the recipients all the rights that
84 you have. You must make sure that they, too, receive or can get the
85 source code. And you must show them these terms so they know their
90 We protect your rights with two steps: (1) copyright the software, and
91 (2) offer you this license which gives you legal permission to copy,
92 distribute and/or modify the software.
96 Also, for each author's protection and ours, we want to make certain
97 that everyone understands that there is no warranty for this free
98 software. If the software is modified by someone else and passed on, we
99 want its recipients to know that what they have is not the original, so
100 that any problems introduced by others will not reflect on the original
101 authors' reputations.
105 Finally, any free program is threatened constantly by software
106 patents. We wish to avoid the danger that redistributors of a free
107 program will individually obtain patent licenses, in effect making the
108 program proprietary. To prevent this, we have made it clear that any
109 patent must be licensed for everyone's free use or not licensed at all.
113 The precise terms and conditions for copying, distribution and
119 <H2><A NAME="SEC3" HREF="gpl.html#TOC3">TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR COPYING, DISTRIBUTION AND MODIFICATION</A></H2>
125 This License applies to any program or other work which contains
126 a notice placed by the copyright holder saying it may be distributed
127 under the terms of this General Public License. The "Program", below,
128 refers to any such program or work, and a "work based on the Program"
129 means either the Program or any derivative work under copyright law:
130 that is to say, a work containing the Program or a portion of it,
131 either verbatim or with modifications and/or translated into another
132 language. (Hereinafter, translation is included without limitation in
133 the term "modification".) Each licensee is addressed as "you".
136 Activities other than copying, distribution and modification are not
137 covered by this License; they are outside its scope. The act of
138 running the Program is not restricted, and the output from the Program
139 is covered only if its contents constitute a work based on the
140 Program (independent of having been made by running the Program).
141 Whether that is true depends on what the Program does.
146 You may copy and distribute verbatim copies of the Program's
147 source code as you receive it, in any medium, provided that you
148 conspicuously and appropriately publish on each copy an appropriate
149 copyright notice and disclaimer of warranty; keep intact all the
150 notices that refer to this License and to the absence of any warranty;
151 and give any other recipients of the Program a copy of this License
152 along with the Program.
155 You may charge a fee for the physical act of transferring a copy, and
156 you may at your option offer warranty protection in exchange for a fee.
160 You may modify your copy or copies of the Program or any portion
161 of it, thus forming a work based on the Program, and copy and
162 distribute such modifications or work under the terms of Section 1
163 above, provided that you also meet all of these conditions:
168 <LI><STRONG>a)</STRONG>
169 You must cause the modified files to carry prominent notices
170 stating that you changed the files and the date of any change.
173 <LI><STRONG>b)</STRONG>
174 You must cause any work that you distribute or publish, that in
175 whole or in part contains or is derived from the Program or any
176 part thereof, to be licensed as a whole at no charge to all third
177 parties under the terms of this License.
180 <LI><STRONG>c)</STRONG>
181 If the modified program normally reads commands interactively
182 when run, you must cause it, when started running for such
183 interactive use in the most ordinary way, to print or display an
184 announcement including an appropriate copyright notice and a
185 notice that there is no warranty (or else, saying that you provide
186 a warranty) and that users may redistribute the program under
187 these conditions, and telling the user how to view a copy of this
188 License. (Exception: if the Program itself is interactive but
189 does not normally print such an announcement, your work based on
190 the Program is not required to print an announcement.)
193 These requirements apply to the modified work as a whole. If
194 identifiable sections of that work are not derived from the Program,
195 and can be reasonably considered independent and separate works in
196 themselves, then this License, and its terms, do not apply to those
197 sections when you distribute them as separate works. But when you
198 distribute the same sections as part of a whole which is a work based
199 on the Program, the distribution of the whole must be on the terms of
200 this License, whose permissions for other licensees extend to the
201 entire whole, and thus to each and every part regardless of who wrote it.
204 Thus, it is not the intent of this section to claim rights or contest
205 your rights to work written entirely by you; rather, the intent is to
206 exercise the right to control the distribution of derivative or
207 collective works based on the Program.
210 In addition, mere aggregation of another work not based on the Program
211 with the Program (or with a work based on the Program) on a volume of
212 a storage or distribution medium does not bring the other work under
213 the scope of this License.
218 You may copy and distribute the Program (or a work based on it,
219 under Section 2) in object code or executable form under the terms of
220 Sections 1 and 2 above provided that you also do one of the following:
223 <!-- we use this doubled UL to get the sub-sections indented, -->
224 <!-- while making the bullets as unobvious as possible. -->
227 <LI><STRONG>a)</STRONG>
228 Accompany it with the complete corresponding machine-readable
229 source code, which must be distributed under the terms of Sections
230 1 and 2 above on a medium customarily used for software interchange; or,
233 <LI><STRONG>b)</STRONG>
234 Accompany it with a written offer, valid for at least three
235 years, to give any third party, for a charge no more than your
236 cost of physically performing source distribution, a complete
237 machine-readable copy of the corresponding source code, to be
238 distributed under the terms of Sections 1 and 2 above on a medium
239 customarily used for software interchange; or,
242 <LI><STRONG>c)</STRONG>
243 Accompany it with the information you received as to the offer
244 to distribute corresponding source code. (This alternative is
245 allowed only for noncommercial distribution and only if you
246 received the program in object code or executable form with such
247 an offer, in accord with Subsection b above.)
250 The source code for a work means the preferred form of the work for
251 making modifications to it. For an executable work, complete source
252 code means all the source code for all modules it contains, plus any
253 associated interface definition files, plus the scripts used to
254 control compilation and installation of the executable. However, as a
255 special exception, the source code distributed need not include
256 anything that is normally distributed (in either source or binary
257 form) with the major components (compiler, kernel, and so on) of the
258 operating system on which the executable runs, unless that component
259 itself accompanies the executable.
262 If distribution of executable or object code is made by offering
263 access to copy from a designated place, then offering equivalent
264 access to copy the source code from the same place counts as
265 distribution of the source code, even though third parties are not
266 compelled to copy the source along with the object code.
270 You may not copy, modify, sublicense, or distribute the Program
271 except as expressly provided under this License. Any attempt
272 otherwise to copy, modify, sublicense or distribute the Program is
273 void, and will automatically terminate your rights under this License.
274 However, parties who have received copies, or rights, from you under
275 this License will not have their licenses terminated so long as such
276 parties remain in full compliance.
281 You are not required to accept this License, since you have not
282 signed it. However, nothing else grants you permission to modify or
283 distribute the Program or its derivative works. These actions are
284 prohibited by law if you do not accept this License. Therefore, by
285 modifying or distributing the Program (or any work based on the
286 Program), you indicate your acceptance of this License to do so, and
287 all its terms and conditions for copying, distributing or modifying
288 the Program or works based on it.
293 Each time you redistribute the Program (or any work based on the
294 Program), the recipient automatically receives a license from the
295 original licensor to copy, distribute or modify the Program subject to
296 these terms and conditions. You may not impose any further
297 restrictions on the recipients' exercise of the rights granted herein.
298 You are not responsible for enforcing compliance by third parties to
304 If, as a consequence of a court judgment or allegation of patent
305 infringement or for any other reason (not limited to patent issues),
306 conditions are imposed on you (whether by court order, agreement or
307 otherwise) that contradict the conditions of this License, they do not
308 excuse you from the conditions of this License. If you cannot
309 distribute so as to satisfy simultaneously your obligations under this
310 License and any other pertinent obligations, then as a consequence you
311 may not distribute the Program at all. For example, if a patent
312 license would not permit royalty-free redistribution of the Program by
313 all those who receive copies directly or indirectly through you, then
314 the only way you could satisfy both it and this License would be to
315 refrain entirely from distribution of the Program.
318 If any portion of this section is held invalid or unenforceable under
319 any particular circumstance, the balance of the section is intended to
320 apply and the section as a whole is intended to apply in other
324 It is not the purpose of this section to induce you to infringe any
325 patents or other property right claims or to contest validity of any
326 such claims; this section has the sole purpose of protecting the
327 integrity of the free software distribution system, which is
328 implemented by public license practices. Many people have made
329 generous contributions to the wide range of software distributed
330 through that system in reliance on consistent application of that
331 system; it is up to the author/donor to decide if he or she is willing
332 to distribute software through any other system and a licensee cannot
336 This section is intended to make thoroughly clear what is believed to
337 be a consequence of the rest of this License.
342 If the distribution and/or use of the Program is restricted in
343 certain countries either by patents or by copyrighted interfaces, the
344 original copyright holder who places the Program under this License
345 may add an explicit geographical distribution limitation excluding
346 those countries, so that distribution is permitted only in or among
347 countries not thus excluded. In such case, this License incorporates
348 the limitation as if written in the body of this License.
353 The Free Software Foundation may publish revised and/or new versions
354 of the General Public License from time to time. Such new versions will
355 be similar in spirit to the present version, but may differ in detail to
356 address new problems or concerns.
359 Each version is given a distinguishing version number. If the Program
360 specifies a version number of this License which applies to it and "any
361 later version", you have the option of following the terms and conditions
362 either of that version or of any later version published by the Free
363 Software Foundation. If the Program does not specify a version number of
364 this License, you may choose any version ever published by the Free Software
371 If you wish to incorporate parts of the Program into other free
372 programs whose distribution conditions are different, write to the author
373 to ask for permission. For software which is copyrighted by the Free
374 Software Foundation, write to the Free Software Foundation; we sometimes
375 make exceptions for this. Our decision will be guided by the two goals
376 of preserving the free status of all derivatives of our free software and
377 of promoting the sharing and reuse of software generally.
381 <P><STRONG>NO WARRANTY</STRONG></P>
386 BECAUSE THE PROGRAM IS LICENSED FREE OF CHARGE, THERE IS NO WARRANTY
387 FOR THE PROGRAM, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW. EXCEPT WHEN
388 OTHERWISE STATED IN WRITING THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND/OR OTHER PARTIES
389 PROVIDE THE PROGRAM "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED
390 OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
391 MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THE ENTIRE RISK AS
392 TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE PROGRAM IS WITH YOU. SHOULD THE
393 PROGRAM PROVE DEFECTIVE, YOU ASSUME THE COST OF ALL NECESSARY SERVICING,
394 REPAIR OR CORRECTION.
399 IN NO EVENT UNLESS REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE LAW OR AGREED TO IN WRITING
400 WILL ANY COPYRIGHT HOLDER, OR ANY OTHER PARTY WHO MAY MODIFY AND/OR
401 REDISTRIBUTE THE PROGRAM AS PERMITTED ABOVE, BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR DAMAGES,
402 INCLUDING ANY GENERAL, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING
403 OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE PROGRAM (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED
404 TO LOSS OF DATA OR DATA BEING RENDERED INACCURATE OR LOSSES SUSTAINED BY
405 YOU OR THIRD PARTIES OR A FAILURE OF THE PROGRAM TO OPERATE WITH ANY OTHER
406 PROGRAMS), EVEN IF SUCH HOLDER OR OTHER PARTY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE
407 POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
412 <H2>END OF TERMS AND CONDITIONS</H2>
416 <H2><A NAME="SEC4" HREF="gpl.html#TOC4">How to Apply These Terms to Your New Programs</A></H2>
419 If you develop a new program, and you want it to be of the greatest
420 possible use to the public, the best way to achieve this is to make it
421 free software which everyone can redistribute and change under these terms.
425 To do so, attach the following notices to the program. It is safest
426 to attach them to the start of each source file to most effectively
427 convey the exclusion of warranty; and each file should have at least
428 the "copyright" line and a pointer to where the full notice is found.
433 <VAR>one line to give the program's name and an idea of what it does.</VAR>
434 Copyright (C) <VAR>yyyy</VAR> <VAR>name of author</VAR>
436 This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
437 modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License
438 as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2
439 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
441 This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
442 but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
443 MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
444 GNU General Public License for more details.
446 You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
447 along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
448 Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.
452 Also add information on how to contact you by electronic and paper mail.
456 If the program is interactive, make it output a short notice like this
457 when it starts in an interactive mode:
462 Gnomovision version 69, Copyright (C) <VAR>year</VAR> <VAR>name of author</VAR>
463 Gnomovision comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY; for details
464 type `show w'. This is free software, and you are welcome
465 to redistribute it under certain conditions; type `show c'
470 The hypothetical commands <SAMP>`show w'</SAMP> and <SAMP>`show c'</SAMP> should show
471 the appropriate parts of the General Public License. Of course, the
472 commands you use may be called something other than <SAMP>`show w'</SAMP> and
473 <SAMP>`show c'</SAMP>; they could even be mouse-clicks or menu items--whatever
478 You should also get your employer (if you work as a programmer) or your
479 school, if any, to sign a "copyright disclaimer" for the program, if
480 necessary. Here is a sample; alter the names:
485 Yoyodyne, Inc., hereby disclaims all copyright
486 interest in the program `Gnomovision'
487 (which makes passes at compilers) written
490 <VAR>signature of Ty Coon</VAR>, 1 April 1989
491 Ty Coon, President of Vice
495 This General Public License does not permit incorporating your program into
496 proprietary programs. If your program is a subroutine library, you may
497 consider it more useful to permit linking proprietary applications with the
498 library. If this is what you want to do, use the GNU Library General
499 Public License instead of this License.
504 FSF & GNU inquiries & questions to
505 <A HREF="mailto:gnu@gnu.org"><EM>gnu@gnu.org</EM></A>.
506 send other questions to
507 <A HREF="mailto:gnu@gnu.org"><EM>gnu@gnu.org</EM></A>.
509 Copyright notice above.<BR>
510 Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
511 59 Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111, USA
projects / debian / mtx / blob