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For example, on rare occasions, there may be a special need to encourage the widest
possible use of a certain library, so that it becomes a de-facto standard. To achieve
this, non-free programs must be allowed to use the library. A more frequent case is
that a free library does the same job as widely used non-free libraries. In this case,
there is little to gain by limiting the free library to free software only, so we use the
Lesser General Public License.
In other cases, permission to use a particular library in non-free programs enables a
greater number of people to use a large body of free software. For example,
permission to use the GNU C Library in non-free programs enables many more
people to use the whole GNU operating system, as well as its variant, the GNU/Linux
operating system.
Although the Lesser General Public License is Less protective of the users' freedom,
it does ensure that the user of a program that is linked with the Library has the
freedom and the wherewithal to run that program using a modified version of the
Library.
The precise terms and conditions for copying, distribution and modification follow.
Pay close attention to the difference between a "work based on the library" and a
"work that uses the library". The former contains code derived from the library,
whereas the latter must be combined with the library in order to run.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR COPYING, DISTRIBUTION AND MODIFICATION
0. This License Agreement applies to any software library or other program which
contains a notice placed by the copyright holder or other authorized party saying it
may be distributed under the terms of this Lesser General Public License (also called
"this License"). Each licensee is addressed as "you".
A "library" means a collection of software functions and/or data prepared so as to
be conveniently linked with application programs (which use some of those
functions and data) to form executables.
The "Library", below, refers to any such software library or work which has been
distributed under these terms. A "work based on the Library" means either the
Library or any derivative work under copyright law: that is to say, a work containing
the Library or a portion of it, either verbatim or with modifications and/or
translated straightforwardly into another language. (Hereinafter, translation is
included without limitation in the term "modification".)
"Source code" for a work means the preferred form of the work for making
modifications to it. For a library, complete source code means all the source code for
all modules it contains, plus any associated interface definition files, plus the scripts
used to control compilation and installation of the library.