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non-free libraries. In this case, there is little to gain by limiting the free library to free software only, so we
use the Lesser General Public License.
In other cases, permission to use a particular library in non-free programs enables a greater number of
people to use a large body of free software. For example, permission to use the GNU C Library in non-
free programs enables many more people to use the whole GNU operating system, as well as its variant,
the GNU/Linux operating system.
Although the Lesser General Public License is Less protective of the users' freedom, it does ensure that
the user of a program that is linked with the Library has the freedom and the wherewithal to run that
program using a modified version of the Library.
The precise terms and conditions for copying, distribution and modification follow. Pay close attention to
the difference between a "work based on the library" and a "work that uses the library". The former
contains code derived from the library, whereas the latter must be combined with the library in order to
run.
GNU LESSER GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR COPYING,
DISTRIBUTION AND MODIFICATION
0. This License Agreement applies to any software library or other program which contains a notice
placed by the copyright holder or other authorized party saying it may be distributed under the terms of
this Lesser General Public License (also called "this License"). Each licensee is addressed as "you".
A "library" means a collection of software functions and/or data prepared so as to be conveniently linked
with application programs (which use some of those functions and data) to form executables.
The "Library", below, refers to any such software library or work which has been distributed under these
terms. A "work based on the Library" means either the Library or any derivative work under copyright
law: that is to say, a work containing the Library or a portion of it, either verbatim or with modifications
and/or translated straightforwardly into another language. (Hereinafter, translation is included without
limitation in the term "modification".)
"Source code" for a work means the preferred form of the work for making modifications to it. For a
library, complete source code means all the source code for all modules it contains, plus any associated
interface definition files, plus the scripts used to control compilation and installation of the library.
Activities other than copying, distribution and modification are not covered by this License; they are
outside its scope. The act of running a program using the Library is not restricted, and output from such a
program is covered only if its contents constitute a work based on the Library (independent of the use of
the Library in a tool for writing it). Whether that is true depends on what the Library does and what the
program that uses the Library does.
1. You may copy and distribute verbatim copies of the Library's complete source code as you receive it,
in any medium, provided that you conspicuously and appropriately publish on each copy an appropriate
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