User's Manual

72
Preamble
Thelicensesformostsoftwarearedesignedtotakeawayyour
freedomtoshareandchangeit.Bycontrast,theGNUGeneral
PublicLicenseisintendedtoguaranteeyourfreedomtoshare
andchangefreesoftware--tomakesurethesoftwareisfreeforall
itsusers.ThisGeneralPublicLicenseappliestomostoftheFree
SoftwareFoundation’ssoftwareandtoanyotherprogramwhose
authorscommittousingit.(SomeotherFreeSoftwareFoundation
softwareiscoveredbytheGNULibraryGeneralPublicLicense
instead.)Youcanapplyittoyourprograms,too.
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.