If the Program specifies that a proxy can decide which future
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Later license versions may give you additional or different
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15. Disclaimer of warranty.
THERE IS NO WARRANTY FOR THE PROGRAM, TO THE
EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW. EXCEPT
WHEN OTHERWISE STATED IN WRITING THE COPYRIGHT
HOLDERS AND/OR OTHER PARTIES PROVIDE THE
PROGRAM “AS IS” WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY
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BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
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SHOULD THE PROGRAM PROVE DEFECTIVE, YOU
ASSUME THE COST OF ALL NECESSARY SERVICING,
REPAIR OR CORRECTION.
16. Limitation of Liability.
IN NO EVENT UNLESS REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE LAW OR
AGREED TO IN WRITING WILL ANY COPYRIGHT HOLDER,
OR ANY OTHER PARTY WHO MODIFIES AND/OR CONVEYS
THE PROGRAM AS PERMITTED ABOVE, BE LIABLE TO
YOU FOR DAMAGES, INCLUDING ANY GENERAL, SPECIAL,
INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING
OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE PROGRAM
(INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO LOSS OF DATA OR DATA
BEING RENDERED INACCURATE OR LOSSES SUSTAINED
BY YOU OR THIRD PARTIES OR A FAILURE OF THE
PROGRAM TO OPERATE WITH ANY OTHER PROGRAMS),
EVEN IF SUCH HOLDER OR OTHER PARTY HAS BEEN
ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
17. interpretation of Sections 15 and 16.
If the disclaimer of warranty and limitation of liability provided
above cannot be given local legal effect according to their
terms, reviewing courts shall apply local law that most
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enD of termS anD conDitionS
Gnu LeSSer GeneraL puBLic LicenSe
Version 2.1, February 1999
Copyright (C) 1991, 1999 Free Software Foundation, Inc. 51
Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301
USA Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim
copies of this license document, but changing it is not
allowed.
[This is the first released version of the Lesser GPL. It also
counts as the successor of the GNU Library Public License,
version 2, hence the version number 2.1.]
preamble
The licenses for most software are designed to take away
your freedom to share and change it. By contrast, the GNU
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software is free for all its users.
This license, the Lesser General Public License, applies
to some specially designated software packages-typically
libraries-of the Free Software Foundation and other authors
who decide to use it. You can use it too, but we suggest you
first think carefully about whether this license or the ordinary
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When we speak of free software, we are referring to freedom
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To protect your rights, we need to make restrictions that
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We protect your rights with a two-step method: (1) we
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To protect each distributor, we want to make it very clear
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Most GNU software, including some libraries, is covered
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When a program is linked with a library, whether statically or
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The ordinary General Public License therefore permits such
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The Lesser General Public License permits more lax criteria
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We call this license the “Lesser” General Public License
because it does Less to protect the user’s freedom than the
ordinary General Public License. It also provides other free
software developers Less of an advantage over competing
non-free programs. These disadvantages are the reason we
use the ordinary General Public License for many libraries.
However, the Lesser license provides advantages in certain
special circumstances.
