LICENSE: Upgrade to LGPL v2.1

Almost all of the subprojects declare the LGPL v2.1 as their license,
except for GES which has 2.0. So it makes sense to put v2.1 at the base to
avoid confusion.

Part-of: <https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/gstreamer/gstreamer/-/merge_requests/4268>
This commit is contained in:
Olivier Crête 2023-03-24 19:00:42 -04:00 committed by GStreamer Marge Bot
parent bcc0885239
commit 892925aaf3

200
LICENSE
View file

@ -1,13 +1,14 @@
GNU LIBRARY GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE
Version 2, June 1991
GNU LESSER GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE
Version 2.1, February 1999
Copyright (C) 1991 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301, USA
Copyright (C) 1991, 1999 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
51 Franklin St, 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 library GPL. It is
numbered 2 because it goes with version 2 of the ordinary GPL.]
[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
@ -16,97 +17,109 @@ freedom to share and change it. By contrast, the GNU General Public
Licenses are intended to guarantee your freedom to share and change
free software--to make sure the software is free for all its users.
This license, the Library General Public License, applies to some
specially designated Free Software Foundation software, and to any
other libraries whose authors decide to use it. You can use it for
your libraries, too.
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 General Public License is the better
strategy to use in any particular case, based on the explanations below.
When we speak of free software, we are referring to freedom, not
price. Our General Public Licenses are designed to make sure that you
have the freedom to distribute copies of free software (and charge for
this service if you wish), that you receive source code or can get it
if you want it, that you can change the software or use pieces of it
in new free programs; and that you know you can do these things.
When we speak of free software, we are referring to freedom of use,
not price. Our General Public Licenses are designed to make sure that
you have the freedom to distribute copies of free software (and charge
for this service if you wish); that you receive source code or can get
it if you want it; that you can change the software and use pieces of
it in new free programs; and that you are informed that you can do
these things.
To protect your rights, we need to make restrictions that forbid
anyone to deny you these rights or to ask you to surrender the rights.
These restrictions translate to certain responsibilities for you if
you distribute copies of the library, or if you modify it.
distributors to deny you these rights or to ask you to surrender these
rights. These restrictions translate to certain responsibilities for
you if you distribute copies of the library or if you modify it.
For example, if you distribute copies of the library, whether gratis
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you. You must make sure that they, too, receive or can get the source
code. If you link a program with the library, you must provide
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with the library, after making changes to the library and recompiling
code. If you link other code with the library, you must provide
complete object files to the recipients, so that they can relink them
with the library after making changes to the library and recompiling
it. And you must show them these terms so they know their rights.
Our method of protecting your rights has two steps: (1) copyright
the library, and (2) offer you this license which gives you legal
We protect your rights with a two-step method: (1) we copyright the
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To protect each distributor, we want to make it very clear that
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Finally, any free program is threatened constantly by software
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we have made it clear that any patent must be licensed for everyone's
free use or not licensed at all.
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effectively restrict the users of a free program by obtaining a
restrictive license from a patent holder. Therefore, we insist that
any patent license obtained for a version of the library must be
consistent with the full freedom of use specified in this license.
Most GNU software, including some libraries, is covered by the ordinary
GNU General Public License, which was designed for utility programs. This
license, the GNU Library General Public License, applies to certain
designated libraries. This license is quite different from the ordinary
one; be sure to read it in full, and don't assume that anything in it is
the same as in the ordinary license.
Most GNU software, including some libraries, is covered by the
ordinary GNU General Public License. This license, the GNU Lesser
General Public License, applies to certain designated libraries, and
is quite different from the ordinary General Public License. We use
this license for certain libraries in order to permit linking those
libraries into non-free programs.
The reason we have a separate public license for some libraries is that
they blur the distinction we usually make between modifying or adding to a
program and simply using it. Linking a program with a library, without
changing the library, is in some sense simply using the library, and is
analogous to running a utility program or application program. However, in
a textual and legal sense, the linked executable is a combined work, a
derivative of the original library, and the ordinary General Public License
treats it as such.
When a program is linked with a library, whether statically or using
a shared library, the combination of the two is legally speaking a
combined work, a derivative of the original library. The ordinary
General Public License therefore permits such linking only if the
entire combination fits its criteria of freedom. The Lesser General
Public License permits more lax criteria for linking other code with
the library.
Because of this blurred distinction, using the ordinary General
Public License for libraries did not effectively promote software
sharing, because most developers did not use the libraries. We
concluded that weaker conditions might promote sharing better.
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.
However, unrestricted linking of non-free programs would deprive the
users of those programs of all benefit from the free status of the
libraries themselves. This Library General Public License is intended to
permit developers of non-free programs to use free libraries, while
preserving your freedom as a user of such programs to change the free
libraries that are incorporated in them. (We have not seen how to achieve
this as regards changes in header files, but we have achieved it as regards
changes in the actual functions of the Library.) The hope is that this
will lead to faster development of free libraries.
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, while the latter only
works together with the library.
Note that it is possible for a library to be covered by the ordinary
General Public License rather than by this special one.
former contains code derived from the library, whereas the latter must
be combined with the library in order to run.
GNU LIBRARY GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE
GNU LESSER GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE
TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR COPYING, DISTRIBUTION AND MODIFICATION
0. This License Agreement applies to any software library which
contains a notice placed by the copyright holder or other authorized
party saying it may be distributed under the terms of this Library
General Public License (also called "this License"). Each licensee is
addressed as "you".
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
@ -255,7 +268,7 @@ distribute the object code for the work under the terms of Section 6.
Any executables containing that work also fall under Section 6,
whether or not they are linked directly with the Library itself.
6. As an exception to the Sections above, you may also compile or
6. As an exception to the Sections above, you may also combine or
link a "work that uses the Library" with the Library to produce a
work containing portions of the Library, and distribute that work
under terms of your choice, provided that the terms permit
@ -282,23 +295,31 @@ of these things:
Library will not necessarily be able to recompile the application
to use the modified definitions.)
b) Accompany the work with a written offer, valid for at
b) Use a suitable shared library mechanism for linking with the
Library. A suitable mechanism is one that (1) uses at run time a
copy of the library already present on the user's computer system,
rather than copying library functions into the executable, and (2)
will operate properly with a modified version of the library, if
the user installs one, as long as the modified version is
interface-compatible with the version that the work was made with.
c) Accompany the work with a written offer, valid for at
least three years, to give the same user the materials
specified in Subsection 6a, above, for a charge no more
than the cost of performing this distribution.
c) If distribution of the work is made by offering access to copy
d) If distribution of the work is made by offering access to copy
from a designated place, offer equivalent access to copy the above
specified materials from the same place.
d) Verify that the user has already received a copy of these
e) Verify that the user has already received a copy of these
materials or that you have already sent this user a copy.
For an executable, the required form of the "work that uses the
Library" must include any data and utility programs needed for
reproducing the executable from it. However, as a special exception,
the source code distributed need not include anything that is normally
distributed (in either source or binary form) with the major
the materials to be distributed need not include anything that is
normally distributed (in either source or binary form) with the major
components (compiler, kernel, and so on) of the operating system on
which the executable runs, unless that component itself accompanies
the executable.
@ -347,7 +368,7 @@ Library), the recipient automatically receives a license from the
original licensor to copy, distribute, link with or modify the Library
subject to these terms and conditions. You may not impose any further
restrictions on the recipients' exercise of the rights granted herein.
You are not responsible for enforcing compliance by third parties to
You are not responsible for enforcing compliance by third parties with
this License.
11. If, as a consequence of a court judgment or allegation of patent
@ -390,7 +411,7 @@ excluded. In such case, this License incorporates the limitation as if
written in the body of this License.
13. The Free Software Foundation may publish revised and/or new
versions of the Library General Public License from time to time.
versions of the Lesser General Public License from time to time.
Such new versions will be similar in spirit to the present version,
but may differ in detail to address new problems or concerns.
@ -436,7 +457,7 @@ DAMAGES.
END OF TERMS AND CONDITIONS
Appendix: How to Apply These Terms to Your New Libraries
How to Apply These Terms to Your New Libraries
If you develop a new library, and you want it to be of the greatest
possible use to the public, we recommend making it free software that
@ -453,18 +474,18 @@ convey the exclusion of warranty; and each file should have at least the
Copyright (C) <year> <name of author>
This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
modify it under the terms of the GNU Library General Public
modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU
Library General Public License for more details.
Lesser General Public License for more details.
You should have received a copy of the GNU Library General Public
License along with this library; if not, write to the Free
Software Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301, USA.
You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
License along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software
Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA
Also add information on how to contact you by electronic and paper mail.
@ -479,3 +500,4 @@ necessary. Here is a sample; alter the names:
Ty Coon, President of Vice
That's all there is to it!