LGPL(3)

💖 LGPL(3) — GNU Lesser General Public License 💖

ok so you opened man 3 LGPL and got a whole legal document, and you're like "bestie why is a license in my man pages" 😭 — because it lives here, that's why. This is the LGPL page from Free Software Foundation, third section of the manual. Buckle up, it's giving ✨ legally binding ✨ but I promise we'll get through it together 🫶

🌸 NAME 🌸

LGPG — GNU Lesser General Public License

(yes bestie, the original really does say LGPG up there. that's not me, that's the page. we do not fix it, we respect it 💅)

🎀 DESCRIPTION 🎀

                     GNU LESSER GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE
                          Version 3, 29 June 2007

Literally everyone is allowed to copy and hand out word-for-word copies of this license doc 💖 — but changing it? not allowed. no edits, no glow-ups, no "small tweaks". periodt.

This version of the GNU Lesser General Public License incorporates all the terms and conditions of version 3 of the GNU General Public License, and then tacks on the extra permissions listed down below. think of it as the GPL wearing a cute little cardigan ✨

⭐ 0. Additional Definitions. ⭐

ok vocabulary time, iykyk 📚

When this doc says "this License", it means version 3 of the GNU Lesser General Public License. and "GNU GPL" means version 3 of the GNU General Public License. two different girls, don't mix them up 💅
"The Library" — the covered work that's governed by this License, other than an Application or a Combined Work (both defined right below).
"Application" — any work that uses an interface the Library provides, but that isn't otherwise based on the Library. fun detail: defining a subclass of a class that the Library defines counts as a way of using an interface the Library provides 👑
"Combined Work" — a work you get by combining or linking an Application with the Library. and the specific version of the Library you used to make that Combined Work? that one's also called the "Linked Version".
"Minimal Corresponding Source" for a Combined Work — that's the Corresponding Source for the Combined Work, but with all the source code for the parts that, looked at on their own, are based on the Application and not on the Linked Version, taken out. subtract the app, keep the rest 🧚
"Corresponding Application Code" for a Combined Work — the object code and/or source code for the Application, including any data and utility programs you need to reproduce the Combined Work from the Application, but not counting the System Libraries of the Combined Work. 🙈

🔥 1. Exception to Section 3 of the GNU GPL. 🔥

Good news bestie: you may convey a covered work under sections 3 and 4 of this License without being bound by section 3 of the GNU GPL. a little freedom, a little slay ✨

🦋 2. Conveying Modified Versions. 🦋

If you modify a copy of the Library, and your modifications include a facility that refers to a function or data supplied by an Application that uses that facility — (and no, that does not count if it's just an argument passed when the facility is invoked) — then you may convey a copy of your modified version:

a) under this License, provided you make a good faith effort to make sure that, if an Application doesn't supply that function or data, the facility still works and still does whatever part of its purpose is still meaningful, or
b) under the GNU GPL, with none of this License's additional permissions applying to that copy.

pick your lane, both are valid 💜

🍓 3. Object Code Incorporating Material from Library Header Files. 🍓

The object code form of an Application may incorporate material from a header file that's part of the Library. you may convey that object code under terms of your choice, BUT — if the incorporated material is not limited to just numerical parameters, data structure layouts and accessors, or small macros, inline functions and templates (ten or fewer lines in length), then you have to do both of these:

a) Give prominent notice with every copy of the object code that the Library is used in it, and that the Library and its use are covered by this License. 📢
b) Accompany the object code with a copy of the GNU GPL and this license document.

"ten or fewer lines" is doing so much heavy lifting here, ngl 💀

🌈 4. Combined Works. 🌈

You may convey a Combined Work under terms of your choice that, taken together, effectively don't restrict modification of the parts of the Library contained in the Combined Work, and don't restrict reverse engineering for debugging those modifications — if you also do every single one of these:

a) Give prominent notice with each copy of the Combined Work that the Library is used in it, and that the Library and its use are covered by this License. 📣
b) Accompany the Combined Work with a copy of the GNU GPL and this license document. 📄
c) For a Combined Work that shows copyright notices while it runs, include the Library's copyright notice among those notices, plus a reference telling the user where to find the copies of the GNU GPL and this license document. 🎀
d) Do one of the following:
- 0) Convey the Minimal Corresponding Source under the terms of this License, and the Corresponding Application Code in a form suitable for — and under terms that permit — the user to recombine or relink the Application with a modified version of the Linked Version to produce a modified Combined Work, in the way section 6 of the GNU GPL specifies for conveying Corresponding Source.
- 1) Use a suitable shared library mechanism for linking with the Library. a "suitable mechanism" is one that (a) uses at run time a copy of the Library that's already present on the user's computer system, and (b) will operate properly with a modified version of the Library that's interface-compatible with the Linked Version. 🧚
e) Provide Installation Information — but only if you'd otherwise be required to provide that info under section 6 of the GNU GPL, and only to the extent that the info is necessary to install and execute a modified version of the Combined Work produced by recombining or relinking the Application with a modified version of the Linked Version. (If you go with option 4d0, the Installation Information has to accompany the Minimal Corresponding Source and Corresponding Application Code. If you go with option 4d1, you must provide the Installation Information in the way section 6 of the GNU GPL specifies for conveying Corresponding Source.)

bestie the nesting is real 😭 4d0 and 4d1 are literally option names, type them exactly, no cap.

💜 5. Combined Libraries. 💜

You may put library facilities that are a work based on the Library side by side in a single library together with other library facilities that are not Applications and are not covered by this License, and convey that combined library under terms of your choice — if you do both of these:

a) Accompany the combined library with a copy of the same work based on the Library, *un*combined with any other library facilities, conveyed under the terms of this License. 🫶
b) Give prominent notice with the combined library that part of it is a work based on the Library, and explain where to find the accompanying uncombined form of the same work. 👑

🧚 6. Revised Versions of the GNU Lesser General Public License. 🧚

The Free Software Foundation may publish revised and/or new versions of the GNU Lesser General Public License from time to time. those new versions will be similar in spirit to this one, but the details may be different to deal with new problems or concerns. icon behavior honestly ⭐

Each version gets its own distinguishing version number. So:

If the Library as you received it specifies that a certain numbered version of the GNU Lesser General Public License "or any later version" applies to it, you have the option of following the terms and conditions of either that published version or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation. 🦋
If the Library as you received it does not specify a version number of the GNU Lesser General Public License, you may choose any version of the GNU Lesser General Public License ever published by the Free Software Foundation. literally any of them, go wild 💅
If the Library as you received it specifies that a proxy can decide whether future versions of the GNU Lesser General Public License apply, then that proxy's public statement of acceptance of any version is permanent authorization for you to choose that version for the Library. 🔥

and that's the whole page bestie, you ate that 💖✨🎀

this was LGPL(3) — GNU on the source side, LGPL for the version, straight from the Free Software Foundation with Version 3, 29 June 2007 energy. now go forth and license responsibly, mwah 🫶💜

📦 where this page comes from

nixpkgs unstable: explain 1.4
💖 girlified by deepseek-ai/DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017 on 2026-11-04: a language model's rewrite of the original, under its terms