taler-merchant-demos

using-gfdl.html (6259B)

---

 <!--#include virtual="/server/header.html" -->
 <!-- Parent-Version: 1.96 -->
 <!-- This page is derived from /server/standards/boilerplate.html -->
 <!--#set var="TAGS" value="essays licensing copyleft" -->
 <!--#set var="DISABLE_TOP_ADDENDUM" value="yes" -->
 <title>Using GNU FDL
 - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation</title>
 <!--#include virtual="/philosophy/po/using-gfdl.translist" -->
 <!--#include virtual="/server/banner.html" -->
 <!--#include virtual="/philosophy/ph-breadcrumb.html" -->
 <!--GNUN: OUT-OF-DATE NOTICE-->
 <!--#include virtual="/server/top-addendum.html" -->
 <div class="article reduced-width">
 <h2>Using GNU FDL</h2>
 
 <address class="byline">by <a href="https://www.stallman.org/">Richard
 Stallman</a></address>
 
 <p>If you know someone who is writing a manual about free software,
 and looking towards commercial publication, you have a chance to help
 the Free Software Movement a great deal with a small amount of work:
 by suggesting the idea of publishing the manual under
 the <a href="/licenses/fdl.html">GNU Free Documentation
 License</a>.</p>
 
 <p>Until recently, commercial book publication almost always implied a
 nonfree book.  But just as free commercial software has been
 increasing for a while, now free commercial documentation is starting
 to take off as well.  Some of the major commercial publishers of
 documentation about the <a href= "/gnu/linux-and-gnu.html">GNU/Linux
 system</a>, and about free software in general, are now willing to
 publish books under the GNU FDL, and pay the authors in the usual
 way&mdash;IF the authors are firm about this.</p>
 
 <p>But publishers are likely to first propose an ordinary proprietary
 book. And if the authors agree, that's what it will be.  So it is
 essential for authors to take the lead; to say, &ldquo;We want to use
 the GNU FDL for this book.&rdquo;  So when your friend mentions
 writing a manual, you can influence the course of events simply by
 pointing out this possibility.</p>
 
 <p>If a publisher rejects the request at first, the GNU Project may be
 able to help the authors prevail.  They can contact us
 at <a href="mailto:gnu@gnu.org">&lt;gnu@gnu.org&gt;</a>.</p>
 
 <p>There
 are <a href="/licenses/license-list.html#DocumentationLicenses">
 other</a> legitimate free documentation licenses, but sometimes using
 them requires care. For example, one license is equipped with two
 optional clauses that can be enabled; the license is free if neither
 optional clause is used, but enabling either of them makes the book
 nonfree.  (See <a href="/licenses/license-list.html">
 gnu.org/licenses/license-list.html</a>.) Authors that want
 to publish free documentation, but using a license other than the GNU
 FDL, can contact us so we can check that the license really qualifies
 for free documentation.</p>
 
 <p>When a commercial manual is free and relates to the GNU system, the
 GNU Project can recommend it to the public.  So if the authors or
 publisher set up a web page to describe it and/or sell copies, we can
 make a link to that page from <a
 href="/doc/other-free-books.html">www.gnu.org/doc/other-free-books.html</a>,
 provided the page meets our usual criteria (for instance, it should
 not link to other pages about nonfree software or documentation, and
 should not be obnoxious about trying to persuade people to buy).
 Please inform <a href="mailto:webmasters@gnu.org">
 &lt;webmasters@gnu.org&gt;</a> about such pages.</p>
 <hr class="column-limit" />
 
 <p>See also <a href="/philosophy/free-doc.html">Free Software and Free
 Manuals</a>.</p>
 </div>
 
 </div><!-- for id="content", starts in the include above -->
 <!--#include virtual="/server/footer.html" -->
 <div id="footer" role="contentinfo">
 <div class="unprintable">
 
 <p>Please send general FSF &amp; GNU inquiries to
 <a href="mailto:gnu@gnu.org">&lt;gnu@gnu.org&gt;</a>.
 There are also <a href="/contact/">other ways to contact</a>
 the FSF.  Broken links and other corrections or suggestions can be sent
 to <a href="mailto:webmasters@gnu.org">&lt;webmasters@gnu.org&gt;</a>.</p>
 
 <p><!-- TRANSLATORS: Ignore the original text in this paragraph,
         replace it with the translation of these two:
 
         We work hard and do our best to provide accurate, good quality
         translations.  However, we are not exempt from imperfection.
         Please send your comments and general suggestions in this regard
         to <a href="mailto:web-translators@gnu.org">
         &lt;web-translators@gnu.org&gt;</a>.</p>
 
         <p>For information on coordinating and contributing translations of
         our web pages, see <a
         href="/server/standards/README.translations.html">Translations
         README</a>. -->
 Please see the <a
 href="/server/standards/README.translations.html">Translations
 README</a> for information on coordinating and contributing translations
 of this article.</p>
 </div>
 
 <!-- Regarding copyright, in general, standalone pages (as opposed to
      files generated as part of manuals) on the GNU web server should
      be under CC BY-ND 4.0.  Please do NOT change or remove this
      without talking with the webmasters or licensing team first.
      Please make sure the copyright date is consistent with the
      document.  For web pages, it is ok to list just the latest year the
      document was modified, or published.
      
      If you wish to list earlier years, that is ok too.
      Either "2001, 2002, 2003" or "2001-2003" are ok for specifying
      years, as long as each year in the range is in fact a copyrightable
      year, i.e., a year in which the document was published (including
      being publicly visible on the web or in a revision control system).
      
      There is more detail about copyright years in the GNU Maintainers
      Information document, www.gnu.org/prep/maintain. -->
 
 <p>Copyright &copy; 1999, 2021 Richard M. Stallman</p>
 
 <p>This page is licensed under a <a rel="license"
 href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">Creative
 Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License</a>.</p>
 
 <!--#include virtual="/server/bottom-notes.html" -->
 
 <p class="unprintable">Updated:
 <!-- timestamp start -->
 $Date: 2021/09/10 10:58:36 $
 <!-- timestamp end -->
 </p>
 </div>
 </div><!-- for class="inner", starts in the banner include -->
 </body>
 </html>