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source: vbox/trunk/doc/License-gpl-2.html

Last change on this file was 40383, checked in by vboxsync, 12 years ago

ExtPacks/VNC: New extension pack contributed by Ivo Smits, Howard Su and Christophe Devriese. Thank you very much!
Frontends/VBoxHeadless: delete old VNC support which was far less useful

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1<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
2<html>
3<head>
4<!-- Translation from RTF performed by UnRTF, version 0.20.1 -->
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6<!-- font table contains 8 fonts total -->
7<!-- creation date: -->
8<!-- revision date: -->
9<!-- last printed: -->
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11</head>
12<body>
13 GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE<br>
14 Version 2, June 1991<br>
15<br>
16 Copyright (C) 1989, 1991 Free Software Foundation, Inc.,<br>
17 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA<br>
18 Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies<br>
19 of this license document, but changing it is not allowed.<br>
20<br>
21 Preamble<br>
22<br>
23 The licenses for most software are designed to take away your<br>
24freedom to share and change it. By contrast, the GNU General Public<br>
25License is intended to guarantee your freedom to share and change free<br>
26software--to make sure the software is free for all its users. This<br>
27General Public License applies to most of the Free Software<br>
28Foundation's software and to any other program whose authors commit to<br>
29using it. (Some other Free Software Foundation software is covered by<br>
30the GNU Lesser General Public License instead.) You can apply it to<br>
31your programs, too.<br>
32<br>
33 When we speak of free software, we are referring to freedom, not<br>
34price. Our General Public Licenses are designed to make sure that you<br>
35have the freedom to distribute copies of free software (and charge for<br>
36this service if you wish), that you receive source code or can get it<br>
37if you want it, that you can change the software or use pieces of it<br>
38in new free programs; and that you know you can do these things.<br>
39<br>
40 To protect your rights, we need to make restrictions that forbid<br>
41anyone to deny you these rights or to ask you to surrender the rights.<br>
42These restrictions translate to certain responsibilities for you if you<br>
43distribute copies of the software, or if you modify it.<br>
44<br>
45 For example, if you distribute copies of such a program, whether<br>
46gratis or for a fee, you must give the recipients all the rights that<br>
47you have. You must make sure that they, too, receive or can get the<br>
48source code. And you must show them these terms so they know their<br>
49rights.<br>
50<br>
51 We protect your rights with two steps: (1) copyright the software, and<br>
52(2) offer you this license which gives you legal permission to copy,<br>
53distribute and/or modify the software.<br>
54<br>
55 Also, for each author's protection and ours, we want to make certain<br>
56that everyone understands that there is no warranty for this free<br>
57software. If the software is modified by someone else and passed on, we<br>
58want its recipients to know that what they have is not the original, so<br>
59that any problems introduced by others will not reflect on the original<br>
60authors' reputations.<br>
61<br>
62 Finally, any free program is threatened constantly by software<br>
63patents. We wish to avoid the danger that redistributors of a free<br>
64program will individually obtain patent licenses, in effect making the<br>
65program proprietary. To prevent this, we have made it clear that any<br>
66patent must be licensed for everyone's free use or not licensed at all.<br>
67<br>
68 The precise terms and conditions for copying, distribution and<br>
69modification follow.<br>
70<br>
71 GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE<br>
72 TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR COPYING, DISTRIBUTION AND MODIFICATION<br>
73<br>
74 0. This License applies to any program or other work which contains<br>
75a notice placed by the copyright holder saying it may be distributed<br>
76under the terms of this General Public License. The &quot;Program&quot;, below,<br>
77refers to any such program or work, and a &quot;work based on the Program&quot;<br>
78means either the Program or any derivative work under copyright law:<br>
79that is to say, a work containing the Program or a portion of it,<br>
80either verbatim or with modifications and/or translated into another<br>
81language. (Hereinafter, translation is included without limitation in<br>
82the term &quot;modification&quot;.) Each licensee is addressed as &quot;you&quot;.<br>
83<br>
84Activities other than copying, distribution and modification are not<br>
85covered by this License; they are outside its scope. The act of<br>
86running the Program is not restricted, and the output from the Program<br>
87is covered only if its contents constitute a work based on the<br>
88Program (independent of having been made by running the Program).<br>
89Whether that is true depends on what the Program does.<br>
90<br>
91 1. You may copy and distribute verbatim copies of the Program's<br>
92source code as you receive it, in any medium, provided that you<br>
93conspicuously and appropriately publish on each copy an appropriate<br>
94copyright notice and disclaimer of warranty; keep intact all the<br>
95notices that refer to this License and to the absence of any warranty;<br>
96and give any other recipients of the Program a copy of this License<br>
97along with the Program.<br>
98<br>
99You may charge a fee for the physical act of transferring a copy, and<br>
100you may at your option offer warranty protection in exchange for a fee.<br>
101<br>
102 2. You may modify your copy or copies of the Program or any portion<br>
103of it, thus forming a work based on the Program, and copy and<br>
104distribute such modifications or work under the terms of Section 1<br>
105above, provided that you also meet all of these conditions:<br>
106<br>
107 a) You must cause the modified files to carry prominent notices<br>
108 stating that you changed the files and the date of any change.<br>
109<br>
110 b) You must cause any work that you distribute or publish, that in<br>
111 whole or in part contains or is derived from the Program or any<br>
112 part thereof, to be licensed as a whole at no charge to all third<br>
113 parties under the terms of this License.<br>
114<br>
115 c) If the modified program normally reads commands interactively<br>
116 when run, you must cause it, when started running for such<br>
117 interactive use in the most ordinary way, to print or display an<br>
118 announcement including an appropriate copyright notice and a<br>
119 notice that there is no warranty (or else, saying that you provide<br>
120 a warranty) and that users may redistribute the program under<br>
121 these conditions, and telling the user how to view a copy of this<br>
122 License. (Exception: if the Program itself is interactive but<br>
123 does not normally print such an announcement, your work based on<br>
124 the Program is not required to print an announcement.)<br>
125<br>
126These requirements apply to the modified work as a whole. If<br>
127identifiable sections of that work are not derived from the Program,<br>
128and can be reasonably considered independent and separate works in<br>
129themselves, then this License, and its terms, do not apply to those<br>
130sections when you distribute them as separate works. But when you<br>
131distribute the same sections as part of a whole which is a work based<br>
132on the Program, the distribution of the whole must be on the terms of<br>
133this License, whose permissions for other licensees extend to the<br>
134entire whole, and thus to each and every part regardless of who wrote it.<br>
135<br>
136Thus, it is not the intent of this section to claim rights or contest<br>
137your rights to work written entirely by you; rather, the intent is to<br>
138exercise the right to control the distribution of derivative or<br>
139collective works based on the Program.<br>
140<br>
141In addition, mere aggregation of another work not based on the Program<br>
142with the Program (or with a work based on the Program) on a volume of<br>
143a storage or distribution medium does not bring the other work under<br>
144the scope of this License.<br>
145<br>
146 3. You may copy and distribute the Program (or a work based on it,<br>
147under Section 2) in object code or executable form under the terms of<br>
148Sections 1 and 2 above provided that you also do one of the following:<br>
149<br>
150 a) Accompany it with the complete corresponding machine-readable<br>
151 source code, which must be distributed under the terms of Sections<br>
152 1 and 2 above on a medium customarily used for software interchange; or,<br>
153<br>
154 b) Accompany it with a written offer, valid for at least three<br>
155 years, to give any third party, for a charge no more than your<br>
156 cost of physically performing source distribution, a complete<br>
157 machine-readable copy of the corresponding source code, to be<br>
158 distributed under the terms of Sections 1 and 2 above on a medium<br>
159 customarily used for software interchange; or,<br>
160<br>
161 c) Accompany it with the information you received as to the offer<br>
162 to distribute corresponding source code. (This alternative is<br>
163 allowed only for noncommercial distribution and only if you<br>
164 received the program in object code or executable form with such<br>
165 an offer, in accord with Subsection b above.)<br>
166<br>
167The source code for a work means the preferred form of the work for<br>
168making modifications to it. For an executable work, complete source<br>
169code means all the source code for all modules it contains, plus any<br>
170associated interface definition files, plus the scripts used to<br>
171control compilation and installation of the executable. However, as a<br>
172special exception, the source code distributed need not include<br>
173anything that is normally distributed (in either source or binary<br>
174form) with the major components (compiler, kernel, and so on) of the<br>
175operating system on which the executable runs, unless that component<br>
176itself accompanies the executable.<br>
177<br>
178If distribution of executable or object code is made by offering<br>
179access to copy from a designated place, then offering equivalent<br>
180access to copy the source code from the same place counts as<br>
181distribution of the source code, even though third parties are not<br>
182compelled to copy the source along with the object code.<br>
183<br>
184 4. You may not copy, modify, sublicense, or distribute the Program<br>
185except as expressly provided under this License. Any attempt<br>
186otherwise to copy, modify, sublicense or distribute the Program is<br>
187void, and will automatically terminate your rights under this License.<br>
188However, parties who have received copies, or rights, from you under<br>
189this License will not have their licenses terminated so long as such<br>
190parties remain in full compliance.<br>
191<br>
192 5. You are not required to accept this License, since you have not<br>
193signed it. However, nothing else grants you permission to modify or<br>
194distribute the Program or its derivative works. These actions are<br>
195prohibited by law if you do not accept this License. Therefore, by<br>
196modifying or distributing the Program (or any work based on the<br>
197Program), you indicate your acceptance of this License to do so, and<br>
198all its terms and conditions for copying, distributing or modifying<br>
199the Program or works based on it.<br>
200<br>
201 6. Each time you redistribute the Program (or any work based on the<br>
202Program), the recipient automatically receives a license from the<br>
203original licensor to copy, distribute or modify the Program subject to<br>
204these terms and conditions. You may not impose any further<br>
205restrictions on the recipients' exercise of the rights granted herein.<br>
206You are not responsible for enforcing compliance by third parties to<br>
207this License.<br>
208<br>
209 7. If, as a consequence of a court judgment or allegation of patent<br>
210infringement or for any other reason (not limited to patent issues),<br>
211conditions are imposed on you (whether by court order, agreement or<br>
212otherwise) that contradict the conditions of this License, they do not<br>
213excuse you from the conditions of this License. If you cannot<br>
214distribute so as to satisfy simultaneously your obligations under this<br>
215License and any other pertinent obligations, then as a consequence you<br>
216may not distribute the Program at all. For example, if a patent<br>
217license would not permit royalty-free redistribution of the Program by<br>
218all those who receive copies directly or indirectly through you, then<br>
219the only way you could satisfy both it and this License would be to<br>
220refrain entirely from distribution of the Program.<br>
221<br>
222If any portion of this section is held invalid or unenforceable under<br>
223any particular circumstance, the balance of the section is intended to<br>
224apply and the section as a whole is intended to apply in other<br>
225circumstances.<br>
226<br>
227It is not the purpose of this section to induce you to infringe any<br>
228patents or other property right claims or to contest validity of any<br>
229such claims; this section has the sole purpose of protecting the<br>
230integrity of the free software distribution system, which is<br>
231implemented by public license practices. Many people have made<br>
232generous contributions to the wide range of software distributed<br>
233through that system in reliance on consistent application of that<br>
234system; it is up to the author/donor to decide if he or she is willing<br>
235to distribute software through any other system and a licensee cannot<br>
236impose that choice.<br>
237<br>
238This section is intended to make thoroughly clear what is believed to<br>
239be a consequence of the rest of this License.<br>
240<br>
241 8. If the distribution and/or use of the Program is restricted in<br>
242certain countries either by patents or by copyrighted interfaces, the<br>
243original copyright holder who places the Program under this License<br>
244may add an explicit geographical distribution limitation excluding<br>
245those countries, so that distribution is permitted only in or among<br>
246countries not thus excluded. In such case, this License incorporates<br>
247the limitation as if written in the body of this License.<br>
248<br>
249 9. The Free Software Foundation may publish revised and/or new versions<br>
250of the General Public License from time to time. Such new versions will<br>
251be similar in spirit to the present version, but may differ in detail to<br>
252address new problems or concerns.<br>
253<br>
254Each version is given a distinguishing version number. If the Program<br>
255specifies a version number of this License which applies to it and &quot;any<br>
256later version&quot;, you have the option of following the terms and conditions<br>
257either of that version or of any later version published by the Free<br>
258Software Foundation. If the Program does not specify a version number of<br>
259this License, you may choose any version ever published by the Free Software<br>
260Foundation.<br>
261<br>
262 10. If you wish to incorporate parts of the Program into other free<br>
263programs whose distribution conditions are different, write to the author<br>
264to ask for permission. For software which is copyrighted by the Free<br>
265Software Foundation, write to the Free Software Foundation; we sometimes<br>
266make exceptions for this. Our decision will be guided by the two goals<br>
267of preserving the free status of all derivatives of our free software and<br>
268of promoting the sharing and reuse of software generally.<br>
269<br>
270 NO WARRANTY<br>
271<br>
272 11. BECAUSE THE PROGRAM IS LICENSED FREE OF CHARGE, THERE IS NO WARRANTY<br>
273FOR THE PROGRAM, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW. EXCEPT WHEN<br>
274OTHERWISE STATED IN WRITING THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND/OR OTHER PARTIES<br>
275PROVIDE THE PROGRAM &quot;AS IS&quot; WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED<br>
276OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF<br>
277MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THE ENTIRE RISK AS<br>
278TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE PROGRAM IS WITH YOU. SHOULD THE<br>
279PROGRAM PROVE DEFECTIVE, YOU ASSUME THE COST OF ALL NECESSARY SERVICING,<br>
280REPAIR OR CORRECTION.<br>
281<br>
282 12. IN NO EVENT UNLESS REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE LAW OR AGREED TO IN WRITING<br>
283WILL ANY COPYRIGHT HOLDER, OR ANY OTHER PARTY WHO MAY MODIFY AND/OR<br>
284REDISTRIBUTE THE PROGRAM AS PERMITTED ABOVE, BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR DAMAGES,<br>
285INCLUDING ANY GENERAL, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING<br>
286OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE PROGRAM (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED<br>
287TO LOSS OF DATA OR DATA BEING RENDERED INACCURATE OR LOSSES SUSTAINED BY<br>
288YOU OR THIRD PARTIES OR A FAILURE OF THE PROGRAM TO OPERATE WITH ANY OTHER<br>
289PROGRAMS), EVEN IF SUCH HOLDER OR OTHER PARTY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE<br>
290POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.<br>
291<br>
292 END OF TERMS AND CONDITIONS<br>
293<br>
294 How to Apply These Terms to Your New Programs<br>
295<br>
296 If you develop a new program, and you want it to be of the greatest<br>
297possible use to the public, the best way to achieve this is to make it<br>
298free software which everyone can redistribute and change under these terms.<br>
299<br>
300 To do so, attach the following notices to the program. It is safest<br>
301to attach them to the start of each source file to most effectively<br>
302convey the exclusion of warranty; and each file should have at least<br>
303the &quot;copyright&quot; line and a pointer to where the full notice is found.<br>
304<br>
305 &lt;one line to give the program's name and a brief idea of what it does.&gt;<br>
306 Copyright (C) &lt;year&gt; &lt;name of author&gt;<br>
307<br>
308 This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify<br>
309 it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by<br>
310 the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or<br>
311 (at your option) any later version.<br>
312<br>
313 This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,<br>
314 but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of<br>
315 MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the<br>
316 GNU General Public License for more details.<br>
317<br>
318 You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along<br>
319 with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,<br>
320 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.<br>
321<br>
322Also add information on how to contact you by electronic and paper mail.<br>
323<br>
324If the program is interactive, make it output a short notice like this<br>
325when it starts in an interactive mode:<br>
326<br>
327 Gnomovision version 69, Copyright (C) year name of author<br>
328 Gnomovision comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY; for details type `show w'.<br>
329 This is free software, and you are welcome to redistribute it<br>
330 under certain conditions; type `show c' for details.<br>
331<br>
332The hypothetical commands `show w' and `show c' should show the appropriate<br>
333parts of the General Public License. Of course, the commands you use may<br>
334be called something other than `show w' and `show c'; they could even be<br>
335mouse-clicks or menu items--whatever suits your program.<br>
336<br>
337You should also get your employer (if you work as a programmer) or your<br>
338school, if any, to sign a &quot;copyright disclaimer&quot; for the program, if<br>
339necessary. Here is a sample; alter the names:<br>
340<br>
341 Yoyodyne, Inc., hereby disclaims all copyright interest in the program<br>
342 `Gnomovision' (which makes passes at compilers) written by James Hacker.<br>
343<br>
344 &lt;signature of Ty Coon&gt;, 1 April 1989<br>
345 Ty Coon, President of Vice<br>
346<br>
347This General Public License does not permit incorporating your program into<br>
348proprietary programs. If your program is a subroutine library, you may<br>
349consider it more useful to permit linking proprietary applications with the<br>
350library. If this is what you want to do, use the GNU Lesser General<br>
351Public License instead of this License.<br>
352</body>
353</html>
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