8
Section 6 states terms for distribution of such executables.
When a “work that uses the Library” uses material from a header file that is part of the Library, the object
code for the work may be a derivative work of the Library even though the source code is not.
Whether this is true is especially significant if the work can be linked without the Library, or if the work is
itself a library. The threshold for this to be true is not precisely defined by law.
If such an object file uses only numerical parameters, data structure layouts and accessors, and small
macros and small inline functions (ten lines or less in length), then the use of the object file is unrestricted,
regardless of whether it is legally a derivative work. (Executables containing this object code plus portions of
the Library will still fall under Section 6.)
Otherwise, if the work is a derivative of the Library, you may distribute the object code for the work under
the terms of Section 6.
Any executables containing that work also fall under Section 6, whether or not they are linked directly with
the Library itself.
6.
As an exception to the Sections above, you may also combine or link a “work that uses the Library” with the
Library to produce a work containing portions of the Library, and distribute that work under terms of your
choice, provided that the terms permit modification of the work for the customer’s own use and reverse
engineering for debugging such modifications.
You must give prominent notice with each copy of the work that the Library is used in it and that the Library
and its use are covered by this License. You must supply a copy of this License. If the work during execution
displays copyright notices, you must include the copyright notice for the Library among them, as well as a
reference directing the user to the copy of this License. Also, you must do one of these things:
a) Accompany the work with the complete corresponding machine-readable source code for the Library
including whatever changes were used in the work (which must be distributed under Sections 1 and 2
above); and, if the work is an executable linked with the Library, with the complete machine-readable
“work that uses the Library”, as object code and/or source code, so that the user can modify the Library
and then relink to produce a modified executable containing the modified Library. (It is understood
that the user who changes the contents of definitions files in the Library will not necessarily be able to
recompile the application to use the modified definitions.)
b) Use a suitable shared library mechanism for linking with the Library. A suitable mechanism is one that
(1) uses at run time a copy of the library already present on the user’s computer system, rather than
copying library functions into the executable, and (2) will operate properly with a modified version
of the library, if the user installs one, as long as the modified version is interface-compatible with the
version that the work was made with.
c) Accompany the work with a written offer, valid for at least three years, to give the same user the
materials specified in Subsection 6a, above, for a charge no more than the cost of performing this
distribution.
d) If distribution of the work is made by offering access to copy from a designated place, offer equivalent
access to copy the above specified materials from the same place.
e) Verify that the user has already received a copy of these materials or that you have already sent this user
a copy.
For an executable, the required form of the “work that uses the library” must include any data and utility
programs needed for reproducing the executable from it. However, as a special exception, the materials to
be distributed need not include anything that is normally distributed (in either source or binary form) with
the major components (compiler, kernel, and so on) of the operating system on which the executable runs,
unless that component itself accompanies the executable.
It may happen that this requirement contradicts the license restrictions of other proprietary libraries that do
not normally accompany the operating system. Such a contradiction means you cannot use both them and
the Library together in an executable that you distribute.
7.
You may place library facilities that are a work based on the Library side-by-side in a single library together
with other library facilities not covered by this License, and distribute such a combined library, provided that
the separate distribution of the work based on the Library and of the other library facilities is otherwise
permitted, and provided that you do these two things:
a) Accompany the combined library with a copy of the same work based on the Library, uncombined with
any other library facilities. This must be distributed under the terms of the Sections above.
b) Give prominent notice with the combined library of the fact that part of it is a work based on the
Library, and explaining where to find the accompanying uncombined form of the same work.
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