unenforceable under any particular circumstance, the
balance of the section is intended to apply and the
section as a whole is intended to apply in other
circumstances.
It is not the purpose of this section to induce you to
infringe any patents or other property right claims or
to contest validity of any such claims; this section has
the sole purpose of protecting the integrity of the free
software distribution system, which is implemented
by public license practices. Many people have made
generous contributions to the wide range of software
distributed through that system in reliance on
consistent application of that system; it is up to the
author/donor to decide if he or she is willing to
distribute software through any other system and a
licensee cannot impose that choice.
This section is intended to make thoroughly clear
what is believed to be a consequence of the rest of
this License.
Each version is given a distinguishing version number.
If the Program specifies a version number of this
License which applies to it and "any later version",
you have the option of following the terms and
conditions either of that version or of any later version
published by the Free Software Foundation. If the
Program does not specify a version number of this
License, you may choose any version ever published
by the Free Software Foundation.
NO WARRANTY
________________________________
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 document, but changing it is not
allowed.
[This is the first released version of the Lesser 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 designed to take
away your freedom to share and change it. By
contrast, the GNU General Public Licenses are
intended to guarantee your freedom to share and
change free software--to make sure the software is
free for all its users.
This license, the Lesser General Public License,
applies to some specially designated software
packages--typically libraries--of the Free Software
Foundation and other authors who decide to use it.
You can use it too, but we suggest you first think
carefully about whether this license or the ordinary
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 price. Our General Public
Licenses are designed to make sure that you have the
freedom to distribute copies of free software (and
charge 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 pieces 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
translate 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 with the library
after making changes to the library and recompiling 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
passed 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 might 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 free program by obtaining a restrictive license from
a patent holder. Therefore, we insist that any patent
license obtained for a version of the library must be
consistent with the full freedom of use specified in
this license.
Most GNU software, including some libraries, is
covered by the ordinary GNU General Public License.
This license, the GNU Lesser General Public License,
82
