User's Manual

55
Whenwespeakoffreesoftware,wearereferringtofreedom,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oruse
piecesofitinnewfreeprograms;andthatyouknowyoucando
these things.
Toprotectyourrights,weneedtomakerestrictionsthatforbid
anyonetodenyyoutheserightsortoaskyoutosurrenderthe
rights.Theserestrictionstranslatetocertainresponsibilitiesforyou
ifyoudistributecopiesofthesoftware,orifyoumodifyit.
Forexample,ifyoudistributecopiesofsuchaprogram,whether
gratisorforafee,youmustgivetherecipientsalltherightsthat
youhave.Youmustmakesurethatthey,too,receiveorcangetthe
sourcecode.Andyoumustshowthemthesetermssotheyknow
their rights.
Weprotectyourrightswithtwosteps:(1)copyrightthesoftware,
and(2)oeryouthislicensewhichgivesyoulegalpermissionto
copy,distributeand/ormodifythesoftware.
Also,foreachauthor’sprotectionandours,wewanttomakecertain
thateveryoneunderstandsthatthereisnowarrantyforthisfree
software.Ifthesoftwareismodiedbysomeoneelseandpassed
on,wewantitsrecipientstoknowthatwhattheyhaveisnotthe
original,sothatanyproblemsintroducedbyotherswillnotreect
ontheoriginalauthors’reputations.