1
This Library is distributed under the terms of the GNU Lesser General
2
Public License version 2.1 (included below).
4
As a special exception to the GNU Lesser General Public License, you
5
may link, statically or dynamically, a "work that uses the Library"
6
with a publicly distributed version of the Library to produce an
7
executable file containing portions of the Library, and distribute
8
that executable file under terms of your choice, without any of the
9
additional requirements listed in clause 6 of the GNU Lesser General
10
Public License. By "a publicly distributed version of the Library",
11
we mean either the unmodified Library as distributed, or a modified
12
version of the Library that is distributed under the conditions
13
defined in clause 3 of the GNU Library General Public License. This
14
exception does not however invalidate any other reasons why the
15
executable file might be covered by the GNU Lesser General Public
20
GNU LESSER GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE
21
Version 2.1, February 1999
23
Copyright (C) 1991, 1999 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
24
59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA
25
Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies
26
of this license document, but changing it is not allowed.
28
[This is the first released version of the Lesser GPL. It also counts
29
as the successor of the GNU Library Public License, version 2, hence
30
the version number 2.1.]
34
The licenses for most software are designed to take away your
35
freedom to share and change it. By contrast, the GNU General Public
36
Licenses are intended to guarantee your freedom to share and change
37
free software--to make sure the software is free for all its users.
39
This license, the Lesser General Public License, applies to some
40
specially designated software packages--typically libraries--of the
41
Free Software Foundation and other authors who decide to use it. You
42
can use it too, but we suggest you first think carefully about whether
43
this license or the ordinary General Public License is the better
44
strategy to use in any particular case, based on the explanations below.
46
When we speak of free software, we are referring to freedom of use,
47
not price. Our General Public Licenses are designed to make sure that
48
you have the freedom to distribute copies of free software (and charge
49
for this service if you wish); that you receive source code or can get
50
it if you want it; that you can change the software and use pieces of
51
it in new free programs; and that you are informed that you can do
54
To protect your rights, we need to make restrictions that forbid
55
distributors to deny you these rights or to ask you to surrender these
56
rights. These restrictions translate to certain responsibilities for
57
you if you distribute copies of the library or if you modify it.
59
For example, if you distribute copies of the library, whether gratis
60
or for a fee, you must give the recipients all the rights that we gave
61
you. You must make sure that they, too, receive or can get the source
62
code. If you link other code with the library, you must provide
63
complete object files to the recipients, so that they can relink them
64
with the library after making changes to the library and recompiling
65
it. And you must show them these terms so they know their rights.
67
We protect your rights with a two-step method: (1) we copyright the
68
library, and (2) we offer you this license, which gives you legal
69
permission to copy, distribute and/or modify the library.
71
To protect each distributor, we want to make it very clear that
72
there is no warranty for the free library. Also, if the library is
73
modified by someone else and passed on, the recipients should know
74
that what they have is not the original version, so that the original
75
author's reputation will not be affected by problems that might be
78
Finally, software patents pose a constant threat to the existence of
79
any free program. We wish to make sure that a company cannot
80
effectively restrict the users of a free program by obtaining a
81
restrictive license from a patent holder. Therefore, we insist that
82
any patent license obtained for a version of the library must be
83
consistent with the full freedom of use specified in this license.
85
Most GNU software, including some libraries, is covered by the
86
ordinary GNU General Public License. This license, the GNU Lesser
87
General Public License, applies to certain designated libraries, and
88
is quite different from the ordinary General Public License. We use
89
this license for certain libraries in order to permit linking those
90
libraries into non-free programs.
92
When a program is linked with a library, whether statically or using
93
a shared library, the combination of the two is legally speaking a
94
combined work, a derivative of the original library. The ordinary
95
General Public License therefore permits such linking only if the
96
entire combination fits its criteria of freedom. The Lesser General
97
Public License permits more lax criteria for linking other code with
100
We call this license the "Lesser" General Public License because it
101
does Less to protect the user's freedom than the ordinary General
102
Public License. It also provides other free software developers Less
103
of an advantage over competing non-free programs. These disadvantages
104
are the reason we use the ordinary General Public License for many
105
libraries. However, the Lesser license provides advantages in certain
106
special circumstances.
108
For example, on rare occasions, there may be a special need to
109
encourage the widest possible use of a certain library, so that it becomes
110
a de-facto standard. To achieve this, non-free programs must be
111
allowed to use the library. A more frequent case is that a free
112
library does the same job as widely used non-free libraries. In this
113
case, there is little to gain by limiting the free library to free
114
software only, so we use the Lesser General Public License.
116
In other cases, permission to use a particular library in non-free
117
programs enables a greater number of people to use a large body of
118
free software. For example, permission to use the GNU C Library in
119
non-free programs enables many more people to use the whole GNU
120
operating system, as well as its variant, the GNU/Linux operating
123
Although the Lesser General Public License is Less protective of the
124
users' freedom, it does ensure that the user of a program that is
125
linked with the Library has the freedom and the wherewithal to run
126
that program using a modified version of the Library.
128
The precise terms and conditions for copying, distribution and
129
modification follow. Pay close attention to the difference between a
130
"work based on the library" and a "work that uses the library". The
131
former contains code derived from the library, whereas the latter must
132
be combined with the library in order to run.
134
GNU LESSER GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE
135
TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR COPYING, DISTRIBUTION AND MODIFICATION
137
0. This License Agreement applies to any software library or other
138
program which contains a notice placed by the copyright holder or
139
other authorized party saying it may be distributed under the terms of
140
this Lesser General Public License (also called "this License").
141
Each licensee is addressed as "you".
143
A "library" means a collection of software functions and/or data
144
prepared so as to be conveniently linked with application programs
145
(which use some of those functions and data) to form executables.
147
The "Library", below, refers to any such software library or work
148
which has been distributed under these terms. A "work based on the
149
Library" means either the Library or any derivative work under
150
copyright law: that is to say, a work containing the Library or a
151
portion of it, either verbatim or with modifications and/or translated
152
straightforwardly into another language. (Hereinafter, translation is
153
included without limitation in the term "modification".)
155
"Source code" for a work means the preferred form of the work for
156
making modifications to it. For a library, complete source code means
157
all the source code for all modules it contains, plus any associated
158
interface definition files, plus the scripts used to control compilation
159
and installation of the library.
161
Activities other than copying, distribution and modification are not
162
covered by this License; they are outside its scope. The act of
163
running a program using the Library is not restricted, and output from
164
such a program is covered only if its contents constitute a work based
165
on the Library (independent of the use of the Library in a tool for
166
writing it). Whether that is true depends on what the Library does
167
and what the program that uses the Library does.
169
1. You may copy and distribute verbatim copies of the Library's
170
complete source code as you receive it, in any medium, provided that
171
you conspicuously and appropriately publish on each copy an
172
appropriate copyright notice and disclaimer of warranty; keep intact
173
all the notices that refer to this License and to the absence of any
174
warranty; and distribute a copy of this License along with the
177
You may charge a fee for the physical act of transferring a copy,
178
and you may at your option offer warranty protection in exchange for a
181
2. You may modify your copy or copies of the Library or any portion
182
of it, thus forming a work based on the Library, and copy and
183
distribute such modifications or work under the terms of Section 1
184
above, provided that you also meet all of these conditions:
186
a) The modified work must itself be a software library.
188
b) You must cause the files modified to carry prominent notices
189
stating that you changed the files and the date of any change.
191
c) You must cause the whole of the work to be licensed at no
192
charge to all third parties under the terms of this License.
194
d) If a facility in the modified Library refers to a function or a
195
table of data to be supplied by an application program that uses
196
the facility, other than as an argument passed when the facility
197
is invoked, then you must make a good faith effort to ensure that,
198
in the event an application does not supply such function or
199
table, the facility still operates, and performs whatever part of
200
its purpose remains meaningful.
202
(For example, a function in a library to compute square roots has
203
a purpose that is entirely well-defined independent of the
204
application. Therefore, Subsection 2d requires that any
205
application-supplied function or table used by this function must
206
be optional: if the application does not supply it, the square
207
root function must still compute square roots.)
209
These requirements apply to the modified work as a whole. If
210
identifiable sections of that work are not derived from the Library,
211
and can be reasonably considered independent and separate works in
212
themselves, then this License, and its terms, do not apply to those
213
sections when you distribute them as separate works. But when you
214
distribute the same sections as part of a whole which is a work based
215
on the Library, the distribution of the whole must be on the terms of
216
this License, whose permissions for other licensees extend to the
217
entire whole, and thus to each and every part regardless of who wrote
220
Thus, it is not the intent of this section to claim rights or contest
221
your rights to work written entirely by you; rather, the intent is to
222
exercise the right to control the distribution of derivative or
223
collective works based on the Library.
225
In addition, mere aggregation of another work not based on the Library
226
with the Library (or with a work based on the Library) on a volume of
227
a storage or distribution medium does not bring the other work under
228
the scope of this License.
230
3. You may opt to apply the terms of the ordinary GNU General Public
231
License instead of this License to a given copy of the Library. To do
232
this, you must alter all the notices that refer to this License, so
233
that they refer to the ordinary GNU General Public License, version 2,
234
instead of to this License. (If a newer version than version 2 of the
235
ordinary GNU General Public License has appeared, then you can specify
236
that version instead if you wish.) Do not make any other change in
239
Once this change is made in a given copy, it is irreversible for
240
that copy, so the ordinary GNU General Public License applies to all
241
subsequent copies and derivative works made from that copy.
243
This option is useful when you wish to copy part of the code of
244
the Library into a program that is not a library.
246
4. You may copy and distribute the Library (or a portion or
247
derivative of it, under Section 2) in object code or executable form
248
under the terms of Sections 1 and 2 above provided that you accompany
249
it with the complete corresponding machine-readable source code, which
250
must be distributed under the terms of Sections 1 and 2 above on a
251
medium customarily used for software interchange.
253
If distribution of object code is made by offering access to copy
254
from a designated place, then offering equivalent access to copy the
255
source code from the same place satisfies the requirement to
256
distribute the source code, even though third parties are not
257
compelled to copy the source along with the object code.
259
5. A program that contains no derivative of any portion of the
260
Library, but is designed to work with the Library by being compiled or
261
linked with it, is called a "work that uses the Library". Such a
262
work, in isolation, is not a derivative work of the Library, and
263
therefore falls outside the scope of this License.
265
However, linking a "work that uses the Library" with the Library
266
creates an executable that is a derivative of the Library (because it
267
contains portions of the Library), rather than a "work that uses the
268
library". The executable is therefore covered by this License.
269
Section 6 states terms for distribution of such executables.
271
When a "work that uses the Library" uses material from a header file
272
that is part of the Library, the object code for the work may be a
273
derivative work of the Library even though the source code is not.
274
Whether this is true is especially significant if the work can be
275
linked without the Library, or if the work is itself a library. The
276
threshold for this to be true is not precisely defined by law.
278
If such an object file uses only numerical parameters, data
279
structure layouts and accessors, and small macros and small inline
280
functions (ten lines or less in length), then the use of the object
281
file is unrestricted, regardless of whether it is legally a derivative
282
work. (Executables containing this object code plus portions of the
283
Library will still fall under Section 6.)
285
Otherwise, if the work is a derivative of the Library, you may
286
distribute the object code for the work under the terms of Section 6.
287
Any executables containing that work also fall under Section 6,
288
whether or not they are linked directly with the Library itself.
290
6. As an exception to the Sections above, you may also combine or
291
link a "work that uses the Library" with the Library to produce a
292
work containing portions of the Library, and distribute that work
293
under terms of your choice, provided that the terms permit
294
modification of the work for the customer's own use and reverse
295
engineering for debugging such modifications.
297
You must give prominent notice with each copy of the work that the
298
Library is used in it and that the Library and its use are covered by
299
this License. You must supply a copy of this License. If the work
300
during execution displays copyright notices, you must include the
301
copyright notice for the Library among them, as well as a reference
302
directing the user to the copy of this License. Also, you must do one
305
a) Accompany the work with the complete corresponding
306
machine-readable source code for the Library including whatever
307
changes were used in the work (which must be distributed under
308
Sections 1 and 2 above); and, if the work is an executable linked
309
with the Library, with the complete machine-readable "work that
310
uses the Library", as object code and/or source code, so that the
311
user can modify the Library and then relink to produce a modified
312
executable containing the modified Library. (It is understood
313
that the user who changes the contents of definitions files in the
314
Library will not necessarily be able to recompile the application
315
to use the modified definitions.)
317
b) Use a suitable shared library mechanism for linking with the
318
Library. A suitable mechanism is one that (1) uses at run time a
319
copy of the library already present on the user's computer system,
320
rather than copying library functions into the executable, and (2)
321
will operate properly with a modified version of the library, if
322
the user installs one, as long as the modified version is
323
interface-compatible with the version that the work was made with.
325
c) Accompany the work with a written offer, valid for at
326
least three years, to give the same user the materials
327
specified in Subsection 6a, above, for a charge no more
328
than the cost of performing this distribution.
330
d) If distribution of the work is made by offering access to copy
331
from a designated place, offer equivalent access to copy the above
332
specified materials from the same place.
334
e) Verify that the user has already received a copy of these
335
materials or that you have already sent this user a copy.
337
For an executable, the required form of the "work that uses the
338
Library" must include any data and utility programs needed for
339
reproducing the executable from it. However, as a special exception,
340
the materials to be distributed need not include anything that is
341
normally distributed (in either source or binary form) with the major
342
components (compiler, kernel, and so on) of the operating system on
343
which the executable runs, unless that component itself accompanies
346
It may happen that this requirement contradicts the license
347
restrictions of other proprietary libraries that do not normally
348
accompany the operating system. Such a contradiction means you cannot
349
use both them and the Library together in an executable that you
352
7. You may place library facilities that are a work based on the
353
Library side-by-side in a single library together with other library
354
facilities not covered by this License, and distribute such a combined
355
library, provided that the separate distribution of the work based on
356
the Library and of the other library facilities is otherwise
357
permitted, and provided that you do these two things:
359
a) Accompany the combined library with a copy of the same work
360
based on the Library, uncombined with any other library
361
facilities. This must be distributed under the terms of the
364
b) Give prominent notice with the combined library of the fact
365
that part of it is a work based on the Library, and explaining
366
where to find the accompanying uncombined form of the same work.
368
8. You may not copy, modify, sublicense, link with, or distribute
369
the Library except as expressly provided under this License. Any
370
attempt otherwise to copy, modify, sublicense, link with, or
371
distribute the Library is void, and will automatically terminate your
372
rights under this License. However, parties who have received copies,
373
or rights, from you under this License will not have their licenses
374
terminated so long as such parties remain in full compliance.
376
9. You are not required to accept this License, since you have not
377
signed it. However, nothing else grants you permission to modify or
378
distribute the Library or its derivative works. These actions are
379
prohibited by law if you do not accept this License. Therefore, by
380
modifying or distributing the Library (or any work based on the
381
Library), you indicate your acceptance of this License to do so, and
382
all its terms and conditions for copying, distributing or modifying
383
the Library or works based on it.
385
10. Each time you redistribute the Library (or any work based on the
386
Library), the recipient automatically receives a license from the
387
original licensor to copy, distribute, link with or modify the Library
388
subject to these terms and conditions. You may not impose any further
389
restrictions on the recipients' exercise of the rights granted herein.
390
You are not responsible for enforcing compliance by third parties with
393
11. If, as a consequence of a court judgment or allegation of patent
394
infringement or for any other reason (not limited to patent issues),
395
conditions are imposed on you (whether by court order, agreement or
396
otherwise) that contradict the conditions of this License, they do not
397
excuse you from the conditions of this License. If you cannot
398
distribute so as to satisfy simultaneously your obligations under this
399
License and any other pertinent obligations, then as a consequence you
400
may not distribute the Library at all. For example, if a patent
401
license would not permit royalty-free redistribution of the Library by
402
all those who receive copies directly or indirectly through you, then
403
the only way you could satisfy both it and this License would be to
404
refrain entirely from distribution of the Library.
406
If any portion of this section is held invalid or unenforceable under any
407
particular circumstance, the balance of the section is intended to apply,
408
and the section as a whole is intended to apply in other circumstances.
410
It is not the purpose of this section to induce you to infringe any
411
patents or other property right claims or to contest validity of any
412
such claims; this section has the sole purpose of protecting the
413
integrity of the free software distribution system which is
414
implemented by public license practices. Many people have made
415
generous contributions to the wide range of software distributed
416
through that system in reliance on consistent application of that
417
system; it is up to the author/donor to decide if he or she is willing
418
to distribute software through any other system and a licensee cannot
421
This section is intended to make thoroughly clear what is believed to
422
be a consequence of the rest of this License.
424
12. If the distribution and/or use of the Library is restricted in
425
certain countries either by patents or by copyrighted interfaces, the
426
original copyright holder who places the Library under this License may add
427
an explicit geographical distribution limitation excluding those countries,
428
so that distribution is permitted only in or among countries not thus
429
excluded. In such case, this License incorporates the limitation as if
430
written in the body of this License.
432
13. The Free Software Foundation may publish revised and/or new
433
versions of the Lesser General Public License from time to time.
434
Such new versions will be similar in spirit to the present version,
435
but may differ in detail to address new problems or concerns.
437
Each version is given a distinguishing version number. If the Library
438
specifies a version number of this License which applies to it and
439
"any later version", you have the option of following the terms and
440
conditions either of that version or of any later version published by
441
the Free Software Foundation. If the Library does not specify a
442
license version number, you may choose any version ever published by
443
the Free Software Foundation.
445
14. If you wish to incorporate parts of the Library into other free
446
programs whose distribution conditions are incompatible with these,
447
write to the author to ask for permission. For software which is
448
copyrighted by the Free Software Foundation, write to the Free
449
Software Foundation; we sometimes make exceptions for this. Our
450
decision will be guided by the two goals of preserving the free status
451
of all derivatives of our free software and of promoting the sharing
452
and reuse of software generally.
456
15. BECAUSE THE LIBRARY IS LICENSED FREE OF CHARGE, THERE IS NO
457
WARRANTY FOR THE LIBRARY, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW.
458
EXCEPT WHEN OTHERWISE STATED IN WRITING THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND/OR
459
OTHER PARTIES PROVIDE THE LIBRARY "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY
460
KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
461
IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
462
PURPOSE. THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE
463
LIBRARY IS WITH YOU. SHOULD THE LIBRARY PROVE DEFECTIVE, YOU ASSUME
464
THE COST OF ALL NECESSARY SERVICING, REPAIR OR CORRECTION.
466
16. IN NO EVENT UNLESS REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE LAW OR AGREED TO IN
467
WRITING WILL ANY COPYRIGHT HOLDER, OR ANY OTHER PARTY WHO MAY MODIFY
468
AND/OR REDISTRIBUTE THE LIBRARY AS PERMITTED ABOVE, BE LIABLE TO YOU
469
FOR DAMAGES, INCLUDING ANY GENERAL, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR
470
CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE
471
LIBRARY (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO LOSS OF DATA OR DATA BEING
472
RENDERED INACCURATE OR LOSSES SUSTAINED BY YOU OR THIRD PARTIES OR A
473
FAILURE OF THE LIBRARY TO OPERATE WITH ANY OTHER SOFTWARE), EVEN IF
474
SUCH HOLDER OR OTHER PARTY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
477
END OF TERMS AND CONDITIONS
479
How to Apply These Terms to Your New Libraries
481
If you develop a new library, and you want it to be of the greatest
482
possible use to the public, we recommend making it free software that
483
everyone can redistribute and change. You can do so by permitting
484
redistribution under these terms (or, alternatively, under the terms of the
485
ordinary General Public License).
487
To apply these terms, attach the following notices to the library. It is
488
safest to attach them to the start of each source file to most effectively
489
convey the exclusion of warranty; and each file should have at least the
490
"copyright" line and a pointer to where the full notice is found.
492
<one line to give the library's name and a brief idea of what it does.>
493
Copyright (C) <year> <name of author>
495
This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
496
modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
497
License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
498
version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
500
This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
501
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
502
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU
503
Lesser General Public License for more details.
505
You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
506
License along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software
507
Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA
509
Also add information on how to contact you by electronic and paper mail.
511
You should also get your employer (if you work as a programmer) or your
512
school, if any, to sign a "copyright disclaimer" for the library, if
513
necessary. Here is a sample; alter the names:
515
Yoyodyne, Inc., hereby disclaims all copyright interest in the
516
library `Frob' (a library for tweaking knobs) written by James Random Hacker.
518
<signature of Ty Coon>, 1 April 1990
519
Ty Coon, President of Vice
521
That's all there is to it!
added
removed
LICENSE
