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www/licenses gpl-faq.html
|
From: |
Brett Smith |
|
Subject: |
www/licenses gpl-faq.html |
|
Date: |
Sun, 06 Jan 2008 15:40:52 +0000 |
CVSROOT: /web/www
Module name: www
Changes by: Brett Smith <brett> 08/01/06 15:40:52
Modified files:
licenses : gpl-faq.html
Log message:
Update GPLIncompatibleLibs with a GPLv3 additional permission. I had to
refactor the whole answer as part of this, but that's okay. This has
been
signed off by RMS. The additional permission is based on one we wrote
for
wget, and Fontana signed off on it.
Also, turn double dashes to — everywhere.
CVSWeb URLs:
http://web.cvs.savannah.gnu.org/viewcvs/www/licenses/gpl-faq.html?cvsroot=www&r1=1.123&r2=1.124
Patches:
Index: gpl-faq.html
===================================================================
RCS file: /web/www/www/licenses/gpl-faq.html,v
retrieving revision 1.123
retrieving revision 1.124
diff -u -b -r1.123 -r1.124
--- gpl-faq.html 20 Dec 2007 01:42:37 -0000 1.123
+++ gpl-faq.html 6 Jan 2008 15:40:35 -0000 1.124
@@ -623,7 +623,7 @@
Does free software mean using the GPL?</a></b></dt>
<dd>
-Not at all--there are many other free software licenses. We have an
+Not at all—there are many other free software licenses. We have an
<a href="/licenses/license-list.html">incomplete
list</a>. Any license that provides the user <a
href="/philosophy/free-sw.html">certain specific
@@ -773,7 +773,7 @@
<dd>
Section 2 says that modified versions you distribute must be licensed
to all third parties under the GPL. "All third parties" means
-absolutely everyone--but this does not require you to *do* anything
+absolutely everyone—but this does not require you to *do* anything
physically for them. It only means they have a license from you,
under the GPL, for your version.
<p></p></dd>
@@ -826,7 +826,7 @@
<dd>
Yes. You can charge any fee you wish for distributing a copy of the
program. If you distribute binaries by download, you must provide
-"equivalent access" to download the source--therefore, the fee to
+"equivalent access" to download the source—therefore, the fee to
download source may not be greater than the fee to download the binary.
<p></p></dd>
@@ -975,7 +975,7 @@
incompatible.
<p>
For some licenses, the way in which the combination is made may affect
-whether they are compatible--for instance, they may allow linking two
+whether they are compatible—for instance, they may allow linking two
modules together, but not allow merging their code into one module.</p>
<p>
Just to install two separate programs in the same system,
@@ -1035,8 +1035,20 @@
software?</a></b></dt>
<dd>
-If the libraries that you link with fall within the following exception
-in the GPL:
+
+<p>Both versions of the GPL have an exception to their copyleft, commonly
+ called the system library exception. If the GPL-incompatible libraries
+ you want to use meet the criteria for a system library, then you don't
+ have to do anything special to use them; the requirement to distribute
+ source code for the whole program does not include those libraries, even
+ if you distribute a linked executable containing them.</p>
+
+<p>The criteria for what counts as a "system library" vary
+ between different versions of the GPL. GPLv3 explicitly defines
+ "System Libraries" in section 1, to exclude it from the
+ definition of "source code." GPLv2 says the following, near the
+ end of section 3:</p>
+
<blockquote><p>
However, as a special exception, the source code distributed need not
include anything that is normally distributed (in either source or
@@ -1044,77 +1056,113 @@
the operating system on which the executable runs, unless that
component itself accompanies the executable.
</p></blockquote>
-<p>
-then you don't have to do anything special to use them; the requirement
-to distribute source code for the whole program does not include those
-libraries, even if you distribute a linked executable containing them.
-Thus, if the libraries you need come with major parts of a proprietary
-operating system, the GPL says people can link your program with them
-without any conditions.
-</p><p>
-If you want your program to link against a library not covered by that
-exception, you need to add your own exception, wholly outside of the
-GPL. This copyright notice and license notice give permission to link
-with the program FOO:</p>
-<blockquote><p>
- Copyright (C) yyyy <name of copyright holder>
-</p><p>
- This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
- it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
- the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
- (at your option) any later version.
-</p><p>
- This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
- but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
- MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
- GNU General Public License for more details.
-</p><p>
- You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
- along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
- Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA
-</p>
-
-<p>Linking ABC statically or dynamically with other modules is making
-a combined work based on ABC. Thus, the terms and conditions of
-the GNU General Public License cover the whole combination.</p>
+<p>If you want your program to link against a library not covered by the
+ system library exception, you need to provide permission to do that.
+ Below are two example license notices that you can use to do that; one
+ for GPLv3, and the other for GPLv2. In either case, you should put this
+ text in each file to which you are granting this permission.</p>
+
+<p>Only the copyright holders for the program can legally release their
+ software under these terms. If you wrote the whole program yourself, then
+ assuming your employer or school does not claim the copyright, you are
+ the copyright holder—so you can authorize the exception. But if you
want
+ to use parts of other GPL-covered programs by other authors in your code,
+ you cannot authorize the exception for them. You have to get the approval
+ of the copyright holders of those programs.</p>
+
+<p>When other people modify the program, they do not have to make the same
+ exception for their code—it is their choice whether to do so.</p>
+
+<p>If the libraries you intend to link with are non-free, please also see
+ <a href="#FSWithNFLibs">the section on writing Free Software which uses
+ non-free libraries</a>.</p>
+
+<p>If you're using GPLv3, you can accomplish this goal by granting an
+ additional permission under section 7. The following license notice will
+ do that. You must replace all the text in brackets with text that is
+ appropriate for your program.</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+
+<p>Copyright (C) <var>[years]</var> <var>[name of copyright
+holder]</var></p>
+
+<p>This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
+under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free
+Software Foundation; either version 3 of the License, or (at your option)
+any later version.</p>
+
+<p>This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
+WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY
+or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License
+for more details.</p>
+
+<p>You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along
+with this program; if not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses>.</p>
+
+<p>Additional permission under GNU GPL version 3 section 7</p>
+
+<p>If you modify this Program, or any covered work, by linking or combining
+it with <var>[name of library]</var> (or a modified version of that
+library), containing parts covered by the terms of <var>[name of library's
+license]</var>, the licensors of this Program grant you additional
+permission to convey the resulting work. Corresponding Source for a
+non-source form of such a combination shall include the source code for the
+parts of <var>[name of library]</var> used as well as that of the covered
+work.</p>
-<p>In addition, as a special exception, the copyright holders of ABC give
-you permission to combine ABC program with free software programs or
-libraries that are released under the GNU LGPL and with code included
-in the standard release of DEF under the XYZ license (or modified
-versions of such code, with unchanged license). You may copy and
-distribute such a system following the terms of the GNU GPL for ABC
-and the licenses of the other code concerned, provided that you
-include the source code of that other code when and as the GNU GPL
-requires distribution of source code.</p>
+</blockquote>
-<p>Note that people who make modified versions of ABC are not obligated
-to grant this special exception for their modified versions; it is
-their choice whether to do so. The GNU General Public License gives
-permission to release a modified version without this exception; this
-exception also makes it possible to release a modified version which
-carries forward this exception.</p>
+<p>If you're using GPLv2, you can provide your own exception to the
+ license's terms. The following license notice will do that. Again, you
+ must replace all the text in brackets with text that is appropriate for
+ your program.</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+
+<p>Copyright (C) <var>[years]</var> <var>[name of copyright
+holder]</var></p>
+
+<p>This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
+under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free
+Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option)
+any later version.</p>
+
+<p>This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
+WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY
+or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License
+for more details.</p>
+
+<p>You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along
+with this program; if not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses>.</p>
+
+<p>Linking <var>[name of your program]</var> statically or dynamically with
+other modules is making a combined work based on <var>[name of your
+program]</var>. Thus, the terms and conditions of the GNU General Public
+License cover the whole combination.</p>
+
+<p>In addition, as a special exception, the copyright holders of <var>[name
+of your program]</var> give you permission to combine <var>[name of your
+program]</var> with free software programs or libraries that are released
+under the GNU LGPL and with code included in the standard release
+of <var>[name of library]</var> under the <var>[name of library's
+license]</var> (or modified versions of such code, with unchanged license).
+You may copy and distribute such a system following the terms of the GNU
+GPL for <var>[name of your program]</var> and the licenses of the other
+code concerned, provided that you include the source code of that other
+code when and as the GNU GPL requires distribution of source code.</p>
+
+<p>Note that people who make modified versions of <var>[name of your
+program]</var> are not obligated to grant this special exception for their
+modified versions; it is their choice whether to do so. The GNU General
+Public License gives permission to release a modified version without this
+exception; this exception also makes it possible to release a modified
+version which carries forward this exception.</p>
</blockquote>
-<p>
-You should put this text in each file to which the exception applies.
-</p><p>
-Only the copyright holders for the program can legally authorize this
-exception. If you wrote the whole program yourself, then assuming your
-employer or school does not claim the copyright, you are the copyright
-holder--so you can authorize the exception. But if you want to use parts
-of other GPL-covered programs by other authors in your code, you cannot
-authorize the exception for them. You have to get the approval of the
-copyright holders of those programs.
-</p><p>
-When other people modify the program, they do not have to make the same
-exception for their code--it is their choice whether to do so.
-</p><p>
-If the libraries you intend to link with are non-free, please also see
-<a href="#FSWithNFLibs">the section on writing Free Software which
-uses non-free libraries</a>.
-</p></dd>
+
+</dd>
<dt><b><a name="HowIGetCopyright">How do I
get a copyright on my program in order to release it under the
@@ -1123,7 +1171,7 @@
<dd>
Under the Berne Convention, everything written is automatically
copyrighted from whenever it is put in fixed form. So you don't have
-to do anything to "get" the copyright on what you write--as long as
+to do anything to "get" the copyright on what you write—as long as
nobody else can claim to own your work.
<p>
However, registering the copyright in the US is a very good idea. It
@@ -1240,7 +1288,7 @@
on the license you use for your code.
<p>
Some programs copy parts of themselves into the output for technical
-reasons--for example, Bison copies a standard parser program into its
+reasons—for example, Bison copies a standard parser program into its
output file. In such cases, the copied text in the output is covered
by the same license that covers it in the source code. Meanwhile, the
part of the output which is derived from the program's input inherits
@@ -1259,7 +1307,7 @@
<dd>
Yes, you do. "Fair use" is use that is allowed without any special
permission. Since you don't need the developers' permission for such
-use, you can do it regardless of what the developers said about it--in
+use, you can do it regardless of what the developers said about it—in
the license or elsewhere, whether that license be the GNU GPL or any
other free software license.
<p>
@@ -1566,7 +1614,7 @@
Only the copyright holders for the program can legally authorize this
exception. If you wrote the whole program yourself, then assuming your
employer or school does not claim the copyright, you are the copyright
-holder--so you can authorize the exception. But if you want to use parts
+holder—so you can authorize the exception. But if you want to use parts
of other GPL-covered programs by other authors in your code, you cannot
authorize the exception for them. You have to get the approval of the
copyright holders of those programs.
@@ -1605,7 +1653,7 @@
<p>
Combining two modules means connecting them together so that they form
a single larger program. If either part is covered by the GPL, the
-whole combination must also be released under the GPL--if you can't,
+whole combination must also be released under the GPL—if you can't,
or won't, do that, you may not combine them.</p>
<p>
What constitutes combining two parts into one program? This is a
@@ -1766,7 +1814,7 @@
<p>
If the two programs remain well separated, like the compiler and the
kernel, or like an editor and a shell, then you can treat them as two
-separate programs--but you have to do it properly. The issue is
+separate programs—but you have to do it properly. The issue is
simply one of form: how you describe what you are doing. Why do we
care about this? Because we want to make sure the users clearly
understand the free status of the GPL-covered software in the
@@ -1824,7 +1872,7 @@
<p>
More concretely, the versions of the programs linked with the Money
Guzzler libraries would not really be free software as we understand
-the term--they would not come with full source code that enables users
+the term—they would not come with full source code that enables users
to change and recompile the program.
</p></dd>
@@ -1860,7 +1908,7 @@
<dd>
No. The whole point of the GPL is that all modified versions
must be <a href="/philosophy/free-sw.html">
-free software</a>--which means, in particular, that the source
+free software</a>—which means, in particular, that the source
code of the modified version is available to the users.
<p></p></dd>
@@ -1889,7 +1937,7 @@
<p>
When a user orders the source, you have to make sure to get the source
to that user. If a particular user can conveniently get the source
-from you by anonymous FTP, fine--that does the job. But not every
+from you by anonymous FTP, fine—that does the job. But not every
user can do such a download. The rest of the users are just as
entitled to get the source code from you, which means you must be
prepared to send it to them by post.</p>
@@ -1915,7 +1963,7 @@
Yes, you can. The offer must be open to everyone who has a copy
of the binary that it accompanies. This is why the GPL says your
friend must give you a copy of the offer along with a copy of the
-binary---so you can take advantage of it.
+binary—so you can take advantage of it.
<p></p></dd>
<dt><b><a
@@ -1991,7 +2039,7 @@
<p>
The sources you provide must correspond exactly to the binaries.
In particular, you must make sure they are for the same version of
-the program--not an older version and not a newer version.</p>
+the program—not an older version and not a newer version.</p>
<p>
You can make the sources and binaries available on different machines,
provided they are equally easy to get to, and provided that you have
@@ -2187,7 +2235,7 @@
offer to send the "source code" later.</p>
<p>
Meanwhile, the GFDL has clauses that help publishers of free manuals
-make a profit from selling copies--cover texts, for instance. The
+make a profit from selling copies—cover texts, for instance. The
special rules for Endorsements sections make it possible to use the
GFDL for an official standard. This would permit modified versions,
but they could not be labeled as "the standard".</p>
@@ -2211,8 +2259,7 @@
<dd>
Font licensing is a complex issue which needs serious
consideration. The following license exception is experimental but
-approved for general use. We welcome suggestions on this subject --
-please see this this <a
+approved for general use. We welcome suggestions on this subject—please
see this this <a
href="http://www.fsf.org/blogs/licensing/20050425novalis";>explanatory
essay</a> and write to
<a href="mailto:address@hidden";>address@hidden</a>.
@@ -2306,7 +2353,7 @@
<p>
A legal document is in some ways like a program. Translating it is
like translating a program from one language and operating system to
-another. Only a lawyer skilled in both languages can do it--and even
+another. Only a lawyer skilled in both languages can do it—and even
then, there is a risk of introducing a bug.</p>
<p>
If we were to approve, officially, a translation of the GPL, we would
@@ -2431,7 +2478,7 @@
Software under the GPL or some other Free Software license?</a></b></dt>
<dd>
-In general, the answer is no--this is not a legal requirement. In
+In general, the answer is no—this is not a legal requirement. In
specific, the answer depends on which libraries you want to use and what
their licenses are. Most system libraries either use the <a
href="/copyleft/lesser.html">GNU Lesser GPL</a>, or use the GNU GPL plus an
@@ -2573,11 +2620,11 @@
says “Ancillary propagation of a covered work occurring solely as a
consequence of using peer-to-peer transmission to receive a copy
likewise does not require acceptance [of the license].”</p>
-<p>Second, section 6(e) of GPLv3 is designed to give distributors --
-people who initially seed torrents -- a clear and straightforward way
-to provide the source, by telling recipients where it is available on
-a public network server. This ensures that everyone who wants to get
-the source can do so, and it's almost no hassle for the
+<p>Second, section 6(e) of GPLv3 is designed to give
+distributors—people who initially seed torrents—a clear and
+straightforward way to provide the source, by telling recipients where it
+is available on a public network server. This ensures that everyone who
+wants to get the source can do so, and it's almost no hassle for the
distributor.</p>
</dd>
@@ -3287,7 +3334,7 @@
<p>
Updated:
<!-- timestamp start -->
- $Date: 2007/12/20 01:42:37 $
+ $Date: 2008/01/06 15:40:35 $
<!-- timestamp end -->
</p>
</div>
- www/licenses gpl-faq.html,
Brett Smith <=
- www/licenses gpl-faq.html, Richard M. Stallman, 2008/01/12
- www/licenses gpl-faq.html, Brett Smith, 2008/01/14
- www/licenses gpl-faq.html, Brett Smith, 2008/01/15
- www/licenses gpl-faq.html, Brett Smith, 2008/01/23
- www/licenses gpl-faq.html, Brett Smith, 2008/01/23
- www/licenses gpl-faq.html, Brett Smith, 2008/01/24
- www/licenses gpl-faq.html, Joakim Olsson, 2008/01/28