[misc.legal] The GNU license.

peter@ficc.uu.net (Peter da Silva) (07/28/89)

In article <3777@shlump.nac.dec.com>, cooper%vlab.dec.com@decwrl.dec.com (g.d.cooper in the shadowlands) writes:
> Why don't we just post the GNU license in misc.legal and ask if one of
> the lawyer types who reads it can explain under what conditions code
> contamination occurs?

		    GNU CC GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE
		    (Clarified 11 Feb 1988)

 Copyright (C) 1988 Richard M. Stallman
 Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies
 of this license, but changing it is not allowed.  You can also
 use this wording to make the terms for other programs.

  The license agreements of most software companies keep you at the
mercy of those companies.  By contrast, our general public license is
intended to give everyone the right to share GNU CC.  To make sure that
you get the rights we want you to have, we need to make restrictions
that forbid anyone to deny you these rights or to ask you to surrender
the rights.  Hence this license agreement.

  Specifically, we want to make sure that you have the right to give
away copies of GNU CC, that you receive source code or else can get it
if you want it, that you can change GNU CC or use pieces of it in new
free programs, and that you know you can do these things.

  To make sure that everyone has such rights, we have to forbid you to
deprive anyone else of these rights.  For example, if you distribute
copies of GNU CC, 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 tell them their rights.

  Also, for our own protection, we must make certain that everyone
finds out that there is no warranty for GNU CC.  If GNU CC is modified by
someone else and passed on, we want its recipients to know that what
they have is not what we distributed, so that any problems introduced
by others will not reflect on our reputation.

  Therefore we (Richard Stallman and the Free Software Foundation,
Inc.) make the following terms which say what you must do to be
allowed to distribute or change GNU CC.


			COPYING POLICIES

  1. You may copy and distribute verbatim copies of GNU CC source code
as you receive it, in any medium, provided that you conspicuously and
appropriately publish on each copy a valid copyright notice "Copyright
(C) 1988 Free Software Foundation, Inc." (or with whatever year is
appropriate); keep intact the notices on all files that refer to this
License Agreement and to the absence of any warranty; and give any
other recipients of the GNU CC program a copy of this License
Agreement along with the program.  You may charge a distribution fee
for the physical act of transferring a copy.

  2. You may modify your copy or copies of GNU CC or any portion of it,
and copy and distribute such modifications under the terms of
Paragraph 1 above, provided that you also do the following:

    a) cause the modified files to carry prominent notices stating
    that you changed the files and the date of any change; and

    b) cause the whole of any work that you distribute or publish,
    that in whole or in part contains or is a derivative of GNU CC or
    any part thereof, to be licensed at no charge to all third
    parties on terms identical to those contained in this License
    Agreement (except that you may choose to grant more extensive
    warranty protection to some or all third parties, at your option).

    c) You may charge a distribution fee for the physical act of
    transferring a copy, and you may at your option offer warranty
    protection in exchange for a fee.

Mere aggregation of another unrelated program with this program (or its
derivative) on a volume of a storage or distribution medium does not bring
the other program under the scope of these terms.

  3. You may copy and distribute GNU CC (or a portion or derivative of it,
under Paragraph 2) in object code or executable form under the terms of
Paragraphs 1 and 2 above provided that you also do one of the following:

    a) accompany it with the complete corresponding machine-readable
    source code, which must be distributed under the terms of
    Paragraphs 1 and 2 above; or,

    b) accompany it with a written offer, valid for at least three
    years, to give any third party free (except for a nominal
    shipping charge) a complete machine-readable copy of the
    corresponding source code, to be distributed under the terms of
    Paragraphs 1 and 2 above; or,

    c) accompany it with the information you received as to where the
    corresponding source code may be obtained.  (This alternative is
    allowed only for noncommercial distribution and only if you
    received the program in object code or executable form alone.)

For an executable file, complete source code means all the source code for
all modules it contains; but, as a special exception, it need not include
source code for modules which are standard libraries that accompany the
operating system on which the executable file runs.

  4. You may not copy, sublicense, distribute or transfer GNU CC
except as expressly provided under this License Agreement.  Any attempt
otherwise to copy, sublicense, distribute or transfer GNU CC is void and
your rights to use the program under this License agreement shall be
automatically terminated.  However, parties who have received computer
software programs from you with this License Agreement will not have
their licenses terminated so long as such parties remain in full compliance.

  5. If you wish to incorporate parts of GNU CC into other free programs
whose distribution conditions are different, write to the Free Software
Foundation at 675 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139.  We have not yet worked
out a simple rule that can be stated here, but we will often permit this.
We will be guided by the two goals of preserving the free status of all
derivatives of our free software and of promoting the sharing and reuse of
software.

Your comments and suggestions about our licensing policies and our
software are welcome!  Please contact the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
675 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139, or call (617) 876-3296.

		       NO WARRANTY

  BECAUSE GNU CC IS LICENSED FREE OF CHARGE, WE PROVIDE ABSOLUTELY NO
WARRANTY, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE STATE LAW.  EXCEPT
WHEN OTHERWISE STATED IN WRITING, FREE SOFTWARE FOUNDATION, INC,
RICHARD M. STALLMAN AND/OR OTHER PARTIES PROVIDE GNU CC "AS IS" WITHOUT
WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT
LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR
A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE QUALITY AND
PERFORMANCE OF GNU CC IS WITH YOU.  SHOULD GNU CC PROVE DEFECTIVE, YOU
ASSUME THE COST OF ALL NECESSARY SERVICING, REPAIR OR CORRECTION.

 IN NO EVENT UNLESS REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE LAW WILL RICHARD M.
STALLMAN, THE FREE SOFTWARE FOUNDATION, INC., AND/OR ANY OTHER PARTY
WHO MAY MODIFY AND REDISTRIBUTE GNU CC AS PERMITTED ABOVE, BE LIABLE TO
YOU FOR DAMAGES, INCLUDING ANY LOST PROFITS, LOST MONIES, OR OTHER
SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR
INABILITY TO USE (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO LOSS OF DATA OR DATA
BEING RENDERED INACCURATE OR LOSSES SUSTAINED BY THIRD PARTIES OR A
FAILURE OF THE PROGRAM TO OPERATE WITH ANY OTHER PROGRAMS) GNU CC, EVEN
IF YOU HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES, OR FOR
ANY CLAIM BY ANY OTHER PARTY.
-- 
Peter da Silva, Xenix Support, Ferranti International Controls Corporation.
Business: peter@ficc.uu.net, +1 713 274 5180. | "...helping make the world
Personal: peter@sugar.hackercorp.com.   `-_-' |  a quote-free zone..."
Quote: Have you hugged your wolf today?  'U`  |    -- hjm@cernvax.cern.ch