LevelOne FCS-1091 - Manual (Page 83)

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Lesser GNU General Public License
GNU LESSER GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE
Version 2.1, February 1999
Copyright (C) 1991, 1999 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
51 Franklin St, 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.