User's Manual
Table Of Contents
57
piecesofitinnewfreeprograms;andthatyouknowyoucando
these things.
Toprotectyourrights,weneedtomakerestrictionsthatforbid
anyone to deny you these rights or to ask you to surrender the
rights. These restrictions translate to certain responsibilities for
youifyoudistributecopiesofthesoftware,orifyoumodifyit.
Forexample,ifyoudistributecopiesofsuchaprogram,whether
gratisorforafee,youmustgivetherecipientsalltherightsthat
youhave.Youmustmakesurethatthey,too,receiveorcangetthe
source code. And you must show them these terms so they know
theirrights.Weprotectyourrightswithtwosteps:(1)copyright
thesoftware,and(2)offeryouthislicensewhichgivesyoulegal
permissiontocopy,distributeand/ormodifythesoftware.
Also,foreachauthor’sprotectionandours,wewanttomake
certain that everyone understands that there is no warranty for
this free software. If the software is modified by someone else and
passedon,wewantitsrecipientstoknowthatwhattheyhaveis
nottheoriginal,sothatanyproblemsintroducedbyotherswill
notreectontheoriginalauthors’reputations.
Finally,anyfreeprogramisthreatenedconstantlybysoftware
patents. We wish to avoid the danger that redistributors of a free
programwillindividuallyobtainpatentlicenses,ineffectmaking
theprogramproprietary.Topreventthis,wehavemadeitclear
that any patent must be licensed for everyone’s free use or not
licensed at all.
Theprecisetermsandconditionsforcopying,distributionand
modification follow.