Filter
Top Products
However, linking a "work that uses the Library" with the Library creates an executable that is a derivative
of the Library (because it contains portions of the Library), rather than a "work that uses the library". The
executable is therefore covered by this License. Section 6 states terms for distribution of such
executables.
When a "work that uses the Library" uses material from a header file that is part of the Library, the object
code for the work may be a derivative work of the Library even though the source code is not. Whether
this is true is especially significant if the work can be linked without the Library, or if the work is itself a
library. The threshold for this to be true is not precisely defined by law.
If such an object file uses only numerical parameters, data structure layouts and accessors, and small
macros and small inline functions (ten lines or less in length), then the use of the object file is
unrestricted, regardless of whether it is legally a derivative work. (Executables containing this object
code plus portions of the Library will still fall under Section 6.)
Otherwise, if the work is a derivative of the Library, you may distribute the object code for the work under
the terms of Section 6. Any executables containing that work also fall under Section 6, whether or not
they are linked directly with the Library itself.
6. As an exception to the Sections above, you may also combine or link a "work that uses the Library"
with the Library to produce a work containing portions of the Library, and distribute that work under terms
of your choice, provided that the terms permit modification of the work for the customer's own use and
reverse engineering for debugging such modifications.
You must give prominent notice with each copy of the work that the Library is used in it and that the
Library and its use are covered by this License. You must supply a copy of this License. If the work
during execution displays copyright notices, you must include the copyright notice for the Library among
them, as well as a reference directing the user to the copy of this License. Also, you must do one of
these things:
a) Accompany the work with the complete corresponding machine-readable source code for the Library
including whatever changes were used in the work (which must be distributed under Sections 1 and 2
above); and, if the work is an executable linked with the Library, with the complete machine-readable
"work that uses the Library", as object code and/or source code, so that the user can modify the Library
and then relink to produce a modified executable containing the modified Library. (It is understood that
the user who changes the contents of definitions files in the Library will not necessarily be able to
recompile the application to use the modified definitions.)
b) Use a suitable shared library mechanism for linking with the Library. A suitable mechanism is one that
(1) uses at run time a copy of the library already present on the user's computer system, rather than
copying library functions into the executable, and (2) will operate properly with a modified version of the
library, if the user installs one, as long as the modified version is interface-compatible with the version
that the work was made with.
254