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diff --git a/talermerchantdemos/blog/articles/scrap1_21.html b/talermerchantdemos/blog/articles/scrap1_21.html deleted file mode 100644 index f2ed919..0000000 --- a/talermerchantdemos/blog/articles/scrap1_21.html +++ /dev/null @@ -1,211 +0,0 @@ -<!-- This is the second edition of Free Software, Free Society: Selected Essays of Richard M. Stallman. - -Free Software Foundation - -51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor - -Boston, MA 02110-1335 -Copyright C 2002, 2010 Free Software Foundation, Inc. -Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire book are permitted -worldwide, without royalty, in any medium, provided this notice is -preserved. Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations -of this book from the original English into another language provided -the translation has been approved by the Free Software Foundation and -the copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved on all -copies. - -ISBN 978-0-9831592-0-9 -Cover design by Rob Myers. - -Cover photograph by Peter Hinely. - --> - - - <a name="What-Is-Copyleft_003f"> - </a> - <h1 class="chapter"> - 21. What Is Copyleft? - </h1> - <a name="index-GPL-2"> - </a> - <a name="index-copyleft-_0028see-also-copyright_0029-3"> - </a> - <a name="index-copylefted-software-_0028see-also-software_0029-1"> - </a> - <p> - Copyleft is a general method for making a program (or -other work) free, and requiring all modified and extended versions of the -program to be free as well. - </p> - <a name="index-public-domain-software-_0028see-also-software_0029-4"> - </a> - <p> - The simplest way to make a program free software is to put it in the -public domain, uncopyrighted. This allows people to -share the program and their improvements, if they are so minded. But -it also allows uncooperative people to convert the program into -proprietary software. They can make changes, many or few, -and distribute the result as a proprietary product. People who -receive the program in that modified form do not have the freedom that -the original author gave them; the middleman has stripped it away. - </p> - <p> - In the GNU Project, our aim is -to give - <em> - all - </em> - users the freedom to redistribute and change GNU -software. If middlemen could strip off the freedom, we might have -many users, but those users would not have freedom. So instead of -putting GNU software in the public domain, we “copyleft” -it. Copyleft says that anyone who redistributes the software, with or -without changes, must pass along the freedom to further copy and -change it. Copyleft guarantees that every user has freedom. - </p> - <p> - Copyleft also provides an incentive for other programmers to add to -free software. Important free programs such as the - <a name="index-GNU_002c-GNU-C_002b_002b-compiler"> - </a> - GNU C++ compiler -exist only because of this. - </p> - <p> - Copyleft also helps programmers who want to contribute improvements to -free software get permission to -do so. These programmers often work for companies or universities -that would do almost anything to get more money. A programmer may -want to contribute her changes to the community, but her employer may -want to turn the changes into a proprietary software product. - </p> - <p> - When we explain to the employer that it is illegal to distribute the -improved version except as free software, the employer usually decides -to release it as free software rather than throw it away. - </p> - <p> - To copyleft a program, we first state that it is copyrighted; then we -add distribution terms, which are a legal instrument that gives -everyone the rights to use, modify, and redistribute the program’s -code, - <em> - or any program derived from it, - </em> - but only if the -distribution terms are unchanged. Thus, the code and the freedoms -become legally inseparable. - </p> - <p> - Proprietary software developers use copyright to take away the users’ -freedom; we use copyright to guarantee their freedom. That’s why we -reverse the name, changing “copyright” into -“copyleft.” - </p> - <p> - Copyleft is a way of using of the copyright on the program. It -doesn’t mean abandoning the copyright; in fact, doing so would make -copyleft impossible. The “left” in -“copyleft” is not a reference to the verb “to -leave”—only to the direction which is the inverse of -“right.” - </p> - <p> - Copyleft is a general concept, and you can’t use a general concept -directly; you can only use a specific implementation of the concept. -In the GNU Project, the specific distribution terms that we use for -most software are contained in the GNU General Public License. The GNU General Public License is often called the GNU GPL for -short. There is also a Frequently Asked Questions page about the GNU -GPL, at - <a href="http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html"> - http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html - </a> - . You can also -read about why the FSF gets copyright assignments from contributors, -at - <a href="http://gnu.org/copyleft/why-assign.html"> - http://gnu.org/copyleft/why-assign.html - </a> - . - </p> - <a name="index-libraries-_0028comp_002e_0029_002c-LGPL-and"> - </a> - <a name="index-LGPL_002c-and-GNU-libraries"> - </a> - <a name="index-GNU_002c-GNU-libraries"> - </a> - <a name="index-libraries-_0028comp_002e_0029_002c-GNU-1"> - </a> - <p> - An alternate form of copyleft, the GNU Lesser General Public License -(LGPL), applies to a few (but not all) GNU libraries. To -learn more about properly using the LGPL, please read the article -“Why You Shouldn’t Use the Lesser GPL for Your Next Library,” -available at - <a href="http://gnu.org/philosophy/why-not-lgpl.html"> - http://gnu.org/philosophy/why-not-lgpl.html - </a> - . - </p> - <a name="index-manuals_002c-FDL-and"> - </a> - <a name="index-FDL-_0028see-also-both-manuals-and-documentation_0029-1"> - </a> - <p> - The GNU Free Documentation License (FDL) is a form of -copyleft intended for use on a manual, textbook or other document to -assure everyone the effective freedom to copy and redistribute it, -with or without modifications, either commercially or noncommercially. - </p> - <p> - The appropriate license is included in many manuals and in each GNU -source code distribution. - </p> - <p> - All these licenses are designed so that you can easily apply them to -your own works, assuming you are the copyright holder. You don’t have -to modify the license to do this, just include a copy of the license -in the work, and add notices in the source files that refer properly -to the license. - </p> - <a name="index-LGPL_002c-altering-distribution-terms-to-GPL"> - </a> - <p> - Using the same distribution terms for many different programs makes it -easy to copy code between various different programs. When they all -have the same distribution terms, there is no problem. The Lesser -GPL, version 2, includes a provision that lets you alter the -distribution terms to the ordinary GPL, so that you can copy code into -another program covered by the GPL. Version 3 of the Lesser GPL is -built as an exception added to GPL version 3, making the compatibility -automatic. - </p> - <p> - If you would like to copyleft your program with the GNU GPL or the GNU -LGPL, please see the license instructions page, at - <a href="http://gnu.org/copyleft/gpl-howto.html"> - http://gnu.org/copyleft/gpl-howto.html - </a> - , for advice. -Please note that you must use the entire text of the license you -choose. Each is an integral whole, and partial copies are not -permitted. - </p> - <p> - If you would like to copyleft your manual with the GNU FDL, please see -the instructions at the end of the FDL text, and the GFDL -instructions page, at - <a href="http://gnu.org/copyleft/fdl-howto.html"> - http://gnu.org/copyleft/fdl-howto.html - </a> - . Again, partial -copies are not permitted. - <a name="index-copylefted-software-_0028see-also-software_0029-2"> - </a> - <a name="index-copyleft-_0028see-also-copyright_0029-4"> - </a> - <a name="index-GPL-3"> - </a> - </p> - <hr size="2"/> - |