1 NOTE! The LGPL below is copyrighted by the Free Software Foundation, but
2 the instance of code that it refers to (the kde libraries) are copyrighted
3 by the authors who actually wrote it.
5 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
6 GNU LIBRARY GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE
9 Copyright (C) 1991 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
10 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor
11 Boston, MA 02110-1301, USA.
12 Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies
13 of this license document, but changing it is not allowed.
15 [This is the first released version of the library GPL. It is
16 numbered 2 because it goes with version 2 of the ordinary GPL.]
20 The licenses for most software are designed to take away your
21 freedom to share and change it. By contrast, the GNU General Public
22 Licenses are intended to guarantee your freedom to share and change
23 free software--to make sure the software is free for all its users.
25 This license, the Library General Public License, applies to some
26 specially designated Free Software Foundation software, and to any
27 other libraries whose authors decide to use it. You can use it for
30 When we speak of free software, we are referring to freedom, not
31 price. Our General Public Licenses are designed to make sure that you
32 have the freedom to distribute copies of free software (and charge for
33 this service if you wish), that you receive source code or can get it
34 if you want it, that you can change the software or use pieces of it
35 in new free programs; and that you know you can do these things.
37 To protect your rights, we need to make restrictions that forbid
38 anyone to deny you these rights or to ask you to surrender the rights.
39 These restrictions translate to certain responsibilities for you if
40 you distribute copies of the library, or if you modify it.
42 For example, if you distribute copies of the library, whether gratis
43 or for a fee, you must give the recipients all the rights that we gave
44 you. You must make sure that they, too, receive or can get the source
45 code. If you link a program with the library, you must provide
46 complete object files to the recipients so that they can relink them
47 with the library, after making changes to the library and recompiling
48 it. And you must show them these terms so they know their rights.
50 Our method of protecting your rights has two steps: (1) copyright
51 the library, and (2) offer you this license which gives you legal
52 permission to copy, distribute and/or modify the library.
54 Also, for each distributor's protection, we want to make certain
55 that everyone understands that there is no warranty for this free
56 library. If the library is modified by someone else and passed on, we
57 want its recipients to know that what they have is not the original
58 version, so that any problems introduced by others will not reflect on
59 the original authors' reputations.
61 Finally, any free program is threatened constantly by software
62 patents. We wish to avoid the danger that companies distributing free
63 software will individually obtain patent licenses, thus in effect
64 transforming the program into proprietary software. To prevent this,
65 we have made it clear that any patent must be licensed for everyone's
66 free use or not licensed at all.
68 Most GNU software, including some libraries, is covered by the ordinary
69 GNU General Public License, which was designed for utility programs. This
70 license, the GNU Library General Public License, applies to certain
71 designated libraries. This license is quite different from the ordinary
72 one; be sure to read it in full, and don't assume that anything in it is
73 the same as in the ordinary license.
75 The reason we have a separate public license for some libraries is that
76 they blur the distinction we usually make between modifying or adding to a
77 program and simply using it. Linking a program with a library, without
78 changing the library, is in some sense simply using the library, and is
79 analogous to running a utility program or application program. However, in
80 a textual and legal sense, the linked executable is a combined work, a
81 derivative of the original library, and the ordinary General Public License
84 Because of this blurred distinction, using the ordinary General
85 Public License for libraries did not effectively promote software
86 sharing, because most developers did not use the libraries. We
87 concluded that weaker conditions might promote sharing better.
89 However, unrestricted linking of non-free programs would deprive the
90 users of those programs of all benefit from the free status of the
91 libraries themselves. This Library General Public License is intended to
92 permit developers of non-free programs to use free libraries, while
93 preserving your freedom as a user of such programs to change the free
94 libraries that are incorporated in them. (We have not seen how to achieve
95 this as regards changes in header files, but we have achieved it as regards
96 changes in the actual functions of the Library.) The hope is that this
97 will lead to faster development of free libraries.
99 The precise terms and conditions for copying, distribution and
100 modification follow. Pay close attention to the difference between a
101 "work based on the library" and a "work that uses the library". The
102 former contains code derived from the library, while the latter only
103 works together with the library.
105 Note that it is possible for a library to be covered by the ordinary
106 General Public License rather than by this special one.
108 GNU LIBRARY GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE
109 TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR COPYING, DISTRIBUTION AND MODIFICATION
111 0. This License Agreement applies to any software library which
112 contains a notice placed by the copyright holder or other authorized
113 party saying it may be distributed under the terms of this Library
114 General Public License (also called "this License"). Each licensee is
117 A "library" means a collection of software functions and/or data
118 prepared so as to be conveniently linked with application programs
119 (which use some of those functions and data) to form executables.
121 The "Library", below, refers to any such software library or work
122 which has been distributed under these terms. A "work based on the
123 Library" means either the Library or any derivative work under
124 copyright law: that is to say, a work containing the Library or a
125 portion of it, either verbatim or with modifications and/or translated
126 straightforwardly into another language. (Hereinafter, translation is
127 included without limitation in the term "modification".)
129 "Source code" for a work means the preferred form of the work for
130 making modifications to it. For a library, complete source code means
131 all the source code for all modules it contains, plus any associated
132 interface definition files, plus the scripts used to control compilation
133 and installation of the library.
135 Activities other than copying, distribution and modification are not
136 covered by this License; they are outside its scope. The act of
137 running a program using the Library is not restricted, and output from
138 such a program is covered only if its contents constitute a work based
139 on the Library (independent of the use of the Library in a tool for
140 writing it). Whether that is true depends on what the Library does
141 and what the program that uses the Library does.
143 1. You may copy and distribute verbatim copies of the Library's
144 complete source code as you receive it, in any medium, provided that
145 you conspicuously and appropriately publish on each copy an
146 appropriate copyright notice and disclaimer of warranty; keep intact
147 all the notices that refer to this License and to the absence of any
148 warranty; and distribute a copy of this License along with the
151 You may charge a fee for the physical act of transferring a copy,
152 and you may at your option offer warranty protection in exchange for a
155 2. You may modify your copy or copies of the Library or any portion
156 of it, thus forming a work based on the Library, and copy and
157 distribute such modifications or work under the terms of Section 1
158 above, provided that you also meet all of these conditions:
160 a) The modified work must itself be a software library.
162 b) You must cause the files modified to carry prominent notices
163 stating that you changed the files and the date of any change.
165 c) You must cause the whole of the work to be licensed at no
166 charge to all third parties under the terms of this License.
168 d) If a facility in the modified Library refers to a function or a
169 table of data to be supplied by an application program that uses
170 the facility, other than as an argument passed when the facility
171 is invoked, then you must make a good faith effort to ensure that,
172 in the event an application does not supply such function or
173 table, the facility still operates, and performs whatever part of
174 its purpose remains meaningful.
176 (For example, a function in a library to compute square roots has
177 a purpose that is entirely well-defined independent of the
178 application. Therefore, Subsection 2d requires that any
179 application-supplied function or table used by this function must
180 be optional: if the application does not supply it, the square
181 root function must still compute square roots.)
183 These requirements apply to the modified work as a whole. If
184 identifiable sections of that work are not derived from the Library,
185 and can be reasonably considered independent and separate works in
186 themselves, then this License, and its terms, do not apply to those
187 sections when you distribute them as separate works. But when you
188 distribute the same sections as part of a whole which is a work based
189 on the Library, the distribution of the whole must be on the terms of
190 this License, whose permissions for other licensees extend to the
191 entire whole, and thus to each and every part regardless of who wrote
194 Thus, it is not the intent of this section to claim rights or contest
195 your rights to work written entirely by you; rather, the intent is to
196 exercise the right to control the distribution of derivative or
197 collective works based on the Library.
199 In addition, mere aggregation of another work not based on the Library
200 with the Library (or with a work based on the Library) on a volume of
201 a storage or distribution medium does not bring the other work under
202 the scope of this License.
204 3. You may opt to apply the terms of the ordinary GNU General Public
205 License instead of this License to a given copy of the Library. To do
206 this, you must alter all the notices that refer to this License, so
207 that they refer to the ordinary GNU General Public License, version 2,
208 instead of to this License. (If a newer version than version 2 of the
209 ordinary GNU General Public License has appeared, then you can specify
210 that version instead if you wish.) Do not make any other change in
213 Once this change is made in a given copy, it is irreversible for
214 that copy, so the ordinary GNU General Public License applies to all
215 subsequent copies and derivative works made from that copy.
217 This option is useful when you wish to copy part of the code of
218 the Library into a program that is not a library.
220 4. You may copy and distribute the Library (or a portion or
221 derivative of it, under Section 2) in object code or executable form
222 under the terms of Sections 1 and 2 above provided that you accompany
223 it with the complete corresponding machine-readable source code, which
224 must be distributed under the terms of Sections 1 and 2 above on a
225 medium customarily used for software interchange.
227 If distribution of object code is made by offering access to copy
228 from a designated place, then offering equivalent access to copy the
229 source code from the same place satisfies the requirement to
230 distribute the source code, even though third parties are not
231 compelled to copy the source along with the object code.
233 5. A program that contains no derivative of any portion of the
234 Library, but is designed to work with the Library by being compiled or
235 linked with it, is called a "work that uses the Library". Such a
236 work, in isolation, is not a derivative work of the Library, and
237 therefore falls outside the scope of this License.
239 However, linking a "work that uses the Library" with the Library
240 creates an executable that is a derivative of the Library (because it
241 contains portions of the Library), rather than a "work that uses the
242 library". The executable is therefore covered by this License.
243 Section 6 states terms for distribution of such executables.
245 When a "work that uses the Library" uses material from a header file
246 that is part of the Library, the object code for the work may be a
247 derivative work of the Library even though the source code is not.
248 Whether this is true is especially significant if the work can be
249 linked without the Library, or if the work is itself a library. The
250 threshold for this to be true is not precisely defined by law.
252 If such an object file uses only numerical parameters, data
253 structure layouts and accessors, and small macros and small inline
254 functions (ten lines or less in length), then the use of the object
255 file is unrestricted, regardless of whether it is legally a derivative
256 work. (Executables containing this object code plus portions of the
257 Library will still fall under Section 6.)
259 Otherwise, if the work is a derivative of the Library, you may
260 distribute the object code for the work under the terms of Section 6.
261 Any executables containing that work also fall under Section 6,
262 whether or not they are linked directly with the Library itself.
264 6. As an exception to the Sections above, you may also compile or
265 link a "work that uses the Library" with the Library to produce a
266 work containing portions of the Library, and distribute that work
267 under terms of your choice, provided that the terms permit
268 modification of the work for the customer's own use and reverse
269 engineering for debugging such modifications.
271 You must give prominent notice with each copy of the work that the
272 Library is used in it and that the Library and its use are covered by
273 this License. You must supply a copy of this License. If the work
274 during execution displays copyright notices, you must include the
275 copyright notice for the Library among them, as well as a reference
276 directing the user to the copy of this License. Also, you must do one
279 a) Accompany the work with the complete corresponding
280 machine-readable source code for the Library including whatever
281 changes were used in the work (which must be distributed under
282 Sections 1 and 2 above); and, if the work is an executable linked
283 with the Library, with the complete machine-readable "work that
284 uses the Library", as object code and/or source code, so that the
285 user can modify the Library and then relink to produce a modified
286 executable containing the modified Library. (It is understood
287 that the user who changes the contents of definitions files in the
288 Library will not necessarily be able to recompile the application
289 to use the modified definitions.)
291 b) Accompany the work with a written offer, valid for at
292 least three years, to give the same user the materials
293 specified in Subsection 6a, above, for a charge no more
294 than the cost of performing this distribution.
296 c) If distribution of the work is made by offering access to copy
297 from a designated place, offer equivalent access to copy the above
298 specified materials from the same place.
300 d) Verify that the user has already received a copy of these
301 materials or that you have already sent this user a copy.
303 For an executable, the required form of the "work that uses the
304 Library" must include any data and utility programs needed for
305 reproducing the executable from it. However, as a special exception,
306 the source code distributed need not include anything that is normally
307 distributed (in either source or binary form) with the major
308 components (compiler, kernel, and so on) of the operating system on
309 which the executable runs, unless that component itself accompanies
312 It may happen that this requirement contradicts the license
313 restrictions of other proprietary libraries that do not normally
314 accompany the operating system. Such a contradiction means you cannot
315 use both them and the Library together in an executable that you
318 7. You may place library facilities that are a work based on the
319 Library side-by-side in a single library together with other library
320 facilities not covered by this License, and distribute such a combined
321 library, provided that the separate distribution of the work based on
322 the Library and of the other library facilities is otherwise
323 permitted, and provided that you do these two things:
325 a) Accompany the combined library with a copy of the same work
326 based on the Library, uncombined with any other library
327 facilities. This must be distributed under the terms of the
330 b) Give prominent notice with the combined library of the fact
331 that part of it is a work based on the Library, and explaining
332 where to find the accompanying uncombined form of the same work.
334 8. You may not copy, modify, sublicense, link with, or distribute
335 the Library except as expressly provided under this License. Any
336 attempt otherwise to copy, modify, sublicense, link with, or
337 distribute the Library is void, and will automatically terminate your
338 rights under this License. However, parties who have received copies,
339 or rights, from you under this License will not have their licenses
340 terminated so long as such parties remain in full compliance.
342 9. You are not required to accept this License, since you have not
343 signed it. However, nothing else grants you permission to modify or
344 distribute the Library or its derivative works. These actions are
345 prohibited by law if you do not accept this License. Therefore, by
346 modifying or distributing the Library (or any work based on the
347 Library), you indicate your acceptance of this License to do so, and
348 all its terms and conditions for copying, distributing or modifying
349 the Library or works based on it.
351 10. Each time you redistribute the Library (or any work based on the
352 Library), the recipient automatically receives a license from the
353 original licensor to copy, distribute, link with or modify the Library
354 subject to these terms and conditions. You may not impose any further
355 restrictions on the recipients' exercise of the rights granted herein.
356 You are not responsible for enforcing compliance by third parties to
359 11. If, as a consequence of a court judgment or allegation of patent
360 infringement or for any other reason (not limited to patent issues),
361 conditions are imposed on you (whether by court order, agreement or
362 otherwise) that contradict the conditions of this License, they do not
363 excuse you from the conditions of this License. If you cannot
364 distribute so as to satisfy simultaneously your obligations under this
365 License and any other pertinent obligations, then as a consequence you
366 may not distribute the Library at all. For example, if a patent
367 license would not permit royalty-free redistribution of the Library by
368 all those who receive copies directly or indirectly through you, then
369 the only way you could satisfy both it and this License would be to
370 refrain entirely from distribution of the Library.
372 If any portion of this section is held invalid or unenforceable under any
373 particular circumstance, the balance of the section is intended to apply,
374 and the section as a whole is intended to apply in other circumstances.
376 It is not the purpose of this section to induce you to infringe any
377 patents or other property right claims or to contest validity of any
378 such claims; this section has the sole purpose of protecting the
379 integrity of the free software distribution system which is
380 implemented by public license practices. Many people have made
381 generous contributions to the wide range of software distributed
382 through that system in reliance on consistent application of that
383 system; it is up to the author/donor to decide if he or she is willing
384 to distribute software through any other system and a licensee cannot
387 This section is intended to make thoroughly clear what is believed to
388 be a consequence of the rest of this License.
390 12. If the distribution and/or use of the Library is restricted in
391 certain countries either by patents or by copyrighted interfaces, the
392 original copyright holder who places the Library under this License may add
393 an explicit geographical distribution limitation excluding those countries,
394 so that distribution is permitted only in or among countries not thus
395 excluded. In such case, this License incorporates the limitation as if
396 written in the body of this License.
398 13. The Free Software Foundation may publish revised and/or new
399 versions of the Library General Public License from time to time.
400 Such new versions will be similar in spirit to the present version,
401 but may differ in detail to address new problems or concerns.
403 Each version is given a distinguishing version number. If the Library
404 specifies a version number of this License which applies to it and
405 "any later version", you have the option of following the terms and
406 conditions either of that version or of any later version published by
407 the Free Software Foundation. If the Library does not specify a
408 license version number, you may choose any version ever published by
409 the Free Software Foundation.
411 14. If you wish to incorporate parts of the Library into other free
412 programs whose distribution conditions are incompatible with these,
413 write to the author to ask for permission. For software which is
414 copyrighted by the Free Software Foundation, write to the Free
415 Software Foundation; we sometimes make exceptions for this. Our
416 decision will be guided by the two goals of preserving the free status
417 of all derivatives of our free software and of promoting the sharing
418 and reuse of software generally.
422 15. BECAUSE THE LIBRARY IS LICENSED FREE OF CHARGE, THERE IS NO
423 WARRANTY FOR THE LIBRARY, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW.
424 EXCEPT WHEN OTHERWISE STATED IN WRITING THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND/OR
425 OTHER PARTIES PROVIDE THE LIBRARY "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY
426 KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
427 IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
428 PURPOSE. THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE
429 LIBRARY IS WITH YOU. SHOULD THE LIBRARY PROVE DEFECTIVE, YOU ASSUME
430 THE COST OF ALL NECESSARY SERVICING, REPAIR OR CORRECTION.
432 16. IN NO EVENT UNLESS REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE LAW OR AGREED TO IN
433 WRITING WILL ANY COPYRIGHT HOLDER, OR ANY OTHER PARTY WHO MAY MODIFY
434 AND/OR REDISTRIBUTE THE LIBRARY AS PERMITTED ABOVE, BE LIABLE TO YOU
435 FOR DAMAGES, INCLUDING ANY GENERAL, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR
436 CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE
437 LIBRARY (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO LOSS OF DATA OR DATA BEING
438 RENDERED INACCURATE OR LOSSES SUSTAINED BY YOU OR THIRD PARTIES OR A
439 FAILURE OF THE LIBRARY TO OPERATE WITH ANY OTHER SOFTWARE), EVEN IF
440 SUCH HOLDER OR OTHER PARTY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
443 END OF TERMS AND CONDITIONS
444 How to Apply These Terms to Your New Libraries
446 If you develop a new library, and you want it to be of the greatest
447 possible use to the public, we recommend making it free software that
448 everyone can redistribute and change. You can do so by permitting
449 redistribution under these terms (or, alternatively, under the terms of the
450 ordinary General Public License).
452 To apply these terms, attach the following notices to the library. It is
453 safest to attach them to the start of each source file to most effectively
454 convey the exclusion of warranty; and each file should have at least the
455 "copyright" line and a pointer to where the full notice is found.
457 <one line to give the library's name and a brief idea of what it does.>
458 Copyright (C) <year> <name of author>
460 This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
461 modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
462 License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
463 version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
465 This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
466 but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
467 MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU
468 Lesser General Public License for more details.
470 You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
471 License along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software
472 Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA
474 Also add information on how to contact you by electronic and paper mail.
476 You should also get your employer (if you work as a programmer) or your
477 school, if any, to sign a "copyright disclaimer" for the library, if
478 necessary. Here is a sample; alter the names:
480 Yoyodyne, Inc., hereby disclaims all copyright interest in the
481 library `Frob' (a library for tweaking knobs) written by James Random Hacker.
483 <signature of Ty Coon>, 1 April 1990
484 Ty Coon, President of Vice
486 That's all there is to it!