LGPL(3)

💖 LGPL(3) 🦋

okay so bestie, welcome to LGPL(3) — a manual page straight from the Free Software Foundation, section 3 of the manual, and it's literally the entire GNU Lesser General Public License, version 3. no cap. it's long, it's legal, it's lowkey iconic, and we're gonna read it together. grab a strawberry something 🍓 and let's go.

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✨ NAME ✨

LGPG — GNU Lesser General Public License

not me noticing the NAME section says LGPG and not LGPL 🙈 that is exactly what's printed, bestie, and we report it faithfully. we do not ask questions. we do not fix things. periodt.

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🎀 DESCRIPTION 🎀

here's the title as it appears, in all its all-caps glory:

                     GNU LESSER GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE
                          Version 3, 29 June 2007

and then the copyright block, verbatim, because it matters:

Copyright (C) 2007 Free Software Foundation, Inc. <http://fsf.org/>
Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this
license document, but changing it is not allowed.

so — this version of the GNU Lesser General Public License incorporates the terms and conditions of version 3 of the GNU General Public License, plus the extra permissions listed down below. it's giving GPLv3 with a little bonus sprinkle ✨.

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0. Additional Definitions. 📚

word definitions time, bestie, and yes you need all of them:

• as used in here, "this License" = version 3 of the GNU Lesser General Public License, and "GNU GPL" = version 3 of the GNU General Public License.
• "The Library" = a covered work governed by this License, other than an Application or a Combined Work (both defined below).
• "Application" = any work that makes use of an interface provided by the Library, but which isn't otherwise based on the Library. and listen: defining a subclass of a class defined by the Library counts as a mode of using an interface provided by the Library. yes, really. 🫶
• "Combined Work" = a work produced by combining or linking an Application with the Library. and the specific version of the Library that the Combined Work was made with is also called the "Linked Version".
• "Minimal Corresponding Source" for a Combined Work = the Corresponding Source for the Combined Work, minus any source code for the parts that, considered on their own, are based on the Application and not on the Linked Version.
• "Corresponding Application Code" for a Combined Work = the object code and/or source code for the Application, including any data and utility programs needed to reproduce the Combined Work from the Application — but not the System Libraries of the Combined Work.

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

you may convey a covered work under sections 3 and 4 of this License without being bound by section 3 of the GNU GPL. that's the whole thing. short queen. 👑

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2. Conveying Modified Versions. 🔧

so if you modify a copy of the Library, and in your modifications a facility refers to a function or data that's supposed to be supplied by an Application using that facility (and not just as an argument passed when the facility is invoked) — then you may convey a copy of the modified version:

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

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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 — provided that, if the incorporated material is not limited to numerical parameters, data structure layouts and accessors, or small macros, inline functions and templates (ten or fewer lines in length), then you do both of these:

• a) give prominent notice with each 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 lines. that's the line, bestie. 10. do not test it. 💀

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4. Combined Works. 🔗

you may convey a Combined Work under terms of your choice — as long as, taken together, they effectively do not restrict modification of the portions of the Library contained in the Combined Work, and do not restrict reverse engineering for debugging such modifications — and if you also do each of the following:

• 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 displays copyright notices during execution, include the copyright notice for the Library among those notices, plus a reference directing the user to 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 manner specified by section 6 of the GNU GPL 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 already present on the user's computer system, and (b) will operate properly with a modified version of the Library that is interface‐compatible with the Linked Version.
• e) provide Installation Information — but only if you'd otherwise be required to provide such information under section 6 of the GNU GPL, and only to the extent that such information 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 use option 4d0, the Installation Information must accompany the Minimal Corresponding Source and Corresponding Application Code. if you use option 4d1, you must provide the Installation Information in the manner specified by section 6 of the GNU GPL for conveying Corresponding Source.)

okay the parenthetical in e) is doing a lot of heavy lifting, read it twice, bestie 😭

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5. Combined Libraries. 📚✨

you may place library facilities that are a work based on the Library side by side in a single library together with other library facilities that aren't Applications and aren't 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, uncombined 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.

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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. such new versions will be similar in spirit to this one, but may differ in detail to address new problems or concerns.

each version gets a 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. and 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. 👑

and if the Library as you received it specifies that a proxy can decide whether future versions of the GNU Lesser General Public License shall apply, that proxy's public statement of acceptance of any version is permanent authorization for you to choose that version for the Library.

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that's the whole page, bestie 💅 filed as LGPL(3), shipped to you by GNU, carrying the LGPL tag in the footer — source GNU, that LGPL line, and the page title LGPL(3) all snuggled together at the bottom. you read the entire license. main character energy, fr fr. 🫶💖