GFDL(7)

📦 version 15.2.0, in ubuntu jammy, ubuntu noble, ubuntu questing, ubuntu resolute, ubuntu stonking

💖 Okay bestie, this is GFDL(7) from the GNU manual pages, and it's all about the GNU Free Documentation License ✨

✨ NAME ✨

gfdl - GNU Free Documentation License 🎀

✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

GNU Free Documentation License 📜

Version 1.2, November 2002 🌸

Copyright (c) 2000,2001,2002 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA  02111-1307, USA

Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies
of this license document, but changing it is not allowed.

0. PREAMBLE 🦋

Okay so the whole point of this License is to make a manual, textbook, or other functional and useful document free in the sense of freedom 🗽 That means everyone gets the real freedom to copy and redistribute it, with or without modifying it, and they can do it commercially or noncommercially. 💅 On top of that, it gives the author and publisher a way to get credit for their work, while not making them responsible for modifications other people make. Iconic behavior, honestly 😭

This License is a kind of ``copyleft'', which just means derivative works of the document have to be free in the same sense too 🔁 It works alongside the GNU General Public License, which is a copyleft license made for free software ✨

We designed this License to be used for manuals for free software, because free software needs free documentation 📚 A free program should come with manuals that give you the same freedoms the software does. But this License isn't limited to software manuals! It works for any textual work, no matter the subject or whether it gets published as a printed book. We especially recommend it for works meant for instruction or reference 🧚

1. APPLICABILITY AND DEFINITIONS 🎀

This License applies to any manual or other work, in any medium, that has a notice from the copyright holder saying it can be distributed under the terms of this License 💌 That notice grants a world-wide, royalty-free license, unlimited in duration, to use the work under the conditions stated here. The Document'', below, refers to any such manual or work. Any member of the public is a licensee, and gets addressed as you'' 🫶 You accept the license if you copy, modify or distribute the work in a way that needs permission under copyright law.

A ``Modified Version'' of the Document means any work containing the Document or a portion of it, either copied verbatim, or with modifications and/or translated into another language 🌈

A ``Secondary Section'' is a named appendix or a front-matter section of the Document that deals exclusively with the relationship of the publishers or authors of the Document to the Document's overall subject (or to related matters). It has to contain nothing that could fall directly within that overall subject 🙈 (So, if the Document is partly a math textbook, a Secondary Section may not explain any math.) The relationship could be historical, or legal, commercial, philosophical, ethical or political, regarding the subject or related matters 🍓

The ``Invariant Sections'' are certain Secondary Sections whose titles are designated as Invariant Sections in the notice that says the Document is released under this License. If a section doesn't fit the above definition of Secondary, then it isn't allowed to be designated as Invariant. The Document may contain zero Invariant Sections. If the Document doesn't identify any Invariant Sections, then there are none 🔒

The ``Cover Texts'' are certain short passages of text listed, as Front-Cover Texts or Back-Cover Texts, in the notice that says the Document is released under this License. A Front-Cover Text may be at most 5 words, and a Back-Cover Text may be at most 25 words 📖

A Transparent'' copy of the Document means a machine-readable copy, in a format whose specification is available to the general public. It has to be suitable for revising the document straightforwardly with generic text editors, or (for images made of pixels) generic paint programs, or (for drawings) some widely available drawing editor. It also has to be suitable for input to text formatters, or for automatic translation into a variety of formats that text formatters can take in 🖥️ A copy made in an otherwise Transparent file format, whose markup (or lack of markup) has been arranged to thwart or discourage later modification by readers, is **not** Transparent 🚫 An image format isn't Transparent if it's used for any substantial amount of text. A copy that isn't Transparent'' is called ``Opaque'' 🫥

Examples of suitable formats for Transparent copies include plain ASCII without markup, Texinfo input format, LaTeX input format, @acronym{SGML} or @acronym{XML} using a publicly available @acronym{DTD}, and standard-conforming simple @acronym{HTML}, PostScript or @acronym{PDF} designed for human modification 💻 Examples of transparent image formats include @acronym{PNG}, @acronym{XCF} and @acronym{JPG}. Opaque formats include proprietary formats that can be read and edited only by proprietary word processors, @acronym{SGML} or @acronym{XML} whose @acronym{DTD} and/or processing tools aren't generally available, and the machine-generated @acronym{HTML}, PostScript or @acronym{PDF} that some word processors produce for output purposes only 🥲

The Title Page'' means, for a printed book, the title page itself, plus whatever following pages are needed to hold, legibly, the material this License requires to appear on the title page 📕 For works in formats that don't have a title page as such, Title Page'' means the text near the most prominent appearance of the work's title, coming before the beginning of the body of the text 🎬

A section Entitled XYZ'' means a named subunit of the Document whose title either is precisely XYZ, or contains XYZ in parentheses following text that translates XYZ into another language. (Here XYZ stands for a specific section name mentioned below, such as Acknowledgements'', Dedications'', Endorsements'', or History''.) To Preserve the Title'' of such a section when you modify the Document means it stays a section ``Entitled XYZ'' according to this definition 🎀

The Document may include Warranty Disclaimers next to the notice saying this License applies to the Document. These Warranty Disclaimers count as included by reference in this License, but only as far as disclaiming warranties goes. Any other implication they might have is void and has no effect on the meaning of this License 🙅‍♀️

2. VERBATIM COPYING 📝

You may copy and distribute the Document in any medium, commercially or noncommercially, provided that this License, the copyright notices, and the license notice saying this License applies to the Document are reproduced in all copies, and that you add no other conditions whatsoever to those of this License 🔍 You may not use technical measures to obstruct or control the reading or further copying of the copies you make or distribute. However, you may accept compensation in exchange for copies. If you distribute a large enough number of copies, you must also follow the conditions in section 3 ⚠️

You may also lend copies under the same conditions stated above, and you may publicly display copies 🎞️

3. COPYING IN QUANTITY 📦

If you publish printed copies (or copies in media that commonly have printed covers) of the Document, numbering more than 100, and the Document's license notice requires Cover Texts, you must enclose the copies in covers that carry, clearly and legibly, all these Cover Texts. Front-Cover Texts go on the front cover, and Back-Cover Texts go on the back cover 📚 Both covers must also clearly and legibly identify you as the publisher of these copies. The front cover must present the full title with all words of the title equally prominent and visible. You may add other material on the covers too. Copying with changes limited to the covers, as long as they preserve the title of the Document and satisfy these conditions, can be treated as verbatim copying in other respects 💅

If the required texts for either cover are too voluminous to fit legibly, you should put the first ones listed (as many as fit reasonably) on the actual cover, and continue the rest onto adjacent pages 📄

If you publish or distribute Opaque copies of the Document numbering more than 100, you must either include a machine-readable Transparent copy along with each Opaque copy, or state in or with each Opaque copy a computer-network location from which the general network-using public has access to download, using public-standard network protocols, a complete Transparent copy of the Document, free of added material 🌐 If you use the latter option, you must take reasonably prudent steps, when you begin distribution of Opaque copies in quantity, to ensure that this Transparent copy will remain accessible at the stated location until at least one year after the last time you distribute an Opaque copy (directly or through your agents or retailers) of that edition to the public 🕰️

It's requested, but not required, that you contact the authors of the Document well before redistributing any large number of copies, so they get a chance to give you an updated version of the Document 💜

4. MODIFICATIONS ✏️

You may copy and distribute a Modified Version of the Document under the conditions of sections 2 and 3 above, provided that you release the Modified Version under precisely this License, with the Modified Version filling the role of the Document. That way, you're licensing distribution and modification of the Modified Version to whoever possesses a copy of it 🦄 On top of that, you must do these things in the Modified Version:

  • A. Use, in the Title Page (and on the covers, if any), a title distinct from that of the Document, and from those of previous versions (which should, if there were any, be listed in the History section of the Document). You may use the same title as a previous version if the original publisher of that version gives permission 👑
  • B. Okay bestie, on the Title Page you list as authors the person or people (or entities) responsible for the changes in the Modified Version, plus at least five of the principal authors of the Document 💅 (or all of them if there are fewer than five). The only exception is if they release you from that requirement 🫶.
  • C. Put the name of the publisher of the Modified Version on the Title Page, labelled as the publisher 📚✨.
  • D. Keep every single copyright notice in the Document 🔒.
  • E. Add a proper copyright notice for your changes, right next to the other copyright notices 🎀.
  • F. Right after the copyright notices, include a license notice that gives the public permission to use the Modified Version under this License, in the form shown in the Addendum below 🦋.
  • G. Keep the full lists of Invariant Sections and required Cover Texts from the Document's license notice inside that license notice 💜.
  • H. Include an unaltered copy of this License 📜.
  • I. Keep the section called "History" and its Title, and add an item to it stating at least the title, year, new authors, and publisher of the Modified Version as shown on the Title Page 🕰️. If the Document doesn't have a "History" section, make one that states the title, year, authors, and publisher of the Document as shown on its Title Page, then add an item describing the Modified Version the way the previous sentence says 🌸.
  • J. Keep the network location (if there is one) given in the Document for public access to a Transparent copy of the Document, and do the same for the network locations given for any previous versions it was based on 🌐. These can go in the "History" section. You can leave out a network location for a work that was published at least four years before the Document itself, or if the original publisher of the version it refers to gives permission 🙈.
  • K. For any section called "Acknowledgements" or "Dedications", keep the Title of the section, and keep all the substance and tone of each contributor's acknowledgements and/or dedications in there 🫶✨.
  • L. Keep all the Invariant Sections of the Document, with their text and titles unchanged 🔒. Section numbers (or their equivalent) don't count as part of the section titles 🔢.
  • M. Delete any section called "Endorsements" 🚫. That kind of section isn't allowed in the Modified Version.
  • N. Don't retitle any existing section to "Endorsements", and don't give a section a title that conflicts with any Invariant Section 🙅‍♀️.
  • O. Keep any Warranty Disclaimers 🛡️.

If the Modified Version has new front-matter sections or appendices that count as Secondary Sections and have no material copied from the Document, you can choose to designate some or all of them as invariant 🧚. To do that, add their titles to the list of Invariant Sections in the Modified Version's license notice. These titles have to be different from every other section title 💅.

You can add a section called "Endorsements" too, as long as it has nothing but endorsements of your Modified Version from various parties 💖. For example, that could be a statement of peer review, or that an organization approved the text as the authoritative definition of a standard 🏆.

You can add a passage of up to five words as Front-Cover Text, and a passage of up to 25 words as Back-Cover Text, to the end of the list of Cover Texts in the Modified Version ✨. Only one Front-Cover Text passage and one Back-Cover Text passage can be added by (or through arrangements made by) any one entity 🙋‍♀️. If the Document already has cover text for the same cover, which you or an entity you're acting for added before, you can't add another one 😤. You can replace the old one, but only with explicit permission from the previous publisher who added it 🫠.

The author(s) and publisher(s) of the Document don't give you permission under this License to use their names for publicity, or to claim or imply that they endorse any Modified Version 🚫📣.

✨ 5. COMBINING DOCUMENTS ✨

You can combine the Document with other documents released under this License, using the rules from section 4 above for modified versions 🧩. Just make sure the combination includes all of the Invariant Sections of all the original documents, unmodified, lists them all as Invariant Sections of your combined work in its license notice, and keeps all their Warranty Disclaimers 🛡️.

The combined work only needs one copy of this License, and multiple identical Invariant Sections can be swapped for a single copy 🪄. If there are multiple Invariant Sections with the same name but different contents, make each title unique by adding the name of the original author or publisher of that section in parentheses at the end (if you know it), or else a unique number 🔢. Do the same thing to the section titles in the list of Invariant Sections in the combined work's license notice 💅.

In the combination, you have to merge any sections called "History" from the various original documents into one section called "History" 📖. Same goes for any sections called "Acknowledgements" and any sections called "Dedications" 🫶. And you must delete all sections called "Endorsements." 🗑️

✨ 6. COLLECTIONS OF DOCUMENTS ✨

You can make a collection of the Document and other documents released under this License, and swap the individual copies of this License in those documents for one single copy included in the collection 📚💜. You still have to follow this License's rules for verbatim copying of each document in every other way 🙌.

You can pull a single document out of such a collection and distribute it on its own under this License, as long as you insert a copy of this License into the extracted document 📎, and follow this License in every other way regarding verbatim copying of that document 💖.

✨ 7. AGGREGATION WITH INDEPENDENT WORKS ✨

A compilation of the Document (or its derivatives) with other separate and independent documents or works, in or on a volume of a storage or distribution medium, is called an "aggregate" if the copyright from the compilation isn't used to limit the legal rights of the compilation's users beyond what the individual works allow 🗂️. When the Document is included in an aggregate, this License doesn't apply to the other works in the aggregate that aren't themselves derivative works of the Document 🙅‍♀️.

If the Cover Text requirement of section 3 applies to these copies of the Document, then, if the Document is less than one half of the entire aggregate, the Document's Cover Texts can go on covers that bracket the Document within the aggregate (or the electronic equivalent of covers if the Document is in electronic form) 🎁. Otherwise, they have to appear on printed covers that bracket the whole aggregate 📦.

✨ 8. TRANSLATION ✨

Translation counts as a kind of modification, so you can distribute translations of the Document under the terms of section 4 🌍💅. Replacing Invariant Sections with translations needs special permission from their copyright holders 🔐, but you can include translations of some or all Invariant Sections in addition to the original versions of those Invariant Sections 🫶.

You can include a translation of this License, all the license notices in the Document, and any Warrany Disclaimers 🛡️, as long as you also include the original English version of this License and the original versions of those notices and disclaimers 📜. If there's a disagreement between the translation and the original version of this License or a notice or disclaimer, the original version wins 👑.

If a section in the Document is called "Acknowledgements", "Dedications", or "History", the requirement in section 4 to Preserve its Title (section 1) will usually mean changing the actual title 😭.

✨ 9. TERMINATION ✨

⚠️ Heads up: you may not copy, modify, sublicense, or distribute the Document except as expressly provided for under this License 🚨. Any other attempt to copy, modify, sublicense, or distribute the Document is void, and will automatically terminate your rights under this License 💀.

Parties who received copies, or rights, from you under this License won't have their licenses terminated, as long as they remain in full compliance 🫶.

✨ 10. FUTURE REVISIONS OF THIS LICENSE ✨

The Free Software Foundation may publish new, revised versions of the GNU Free Documentation License from time to time 🔮. New versions will be similar in spirit to this one, but may differ in detail to address new problems or concerns 🌈. See <http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/>.

Each version of the License gets its own version number 🔢. If the Document says that a particular numbered version of this License "or any later version" applies to it, you can choose to follow the terms and conditions of that version, or of any later version published (not as a draft) by the Free Software Foundation 🧚. If the Document doesn't specify a version number, you can choose any version ever published (not as a draft) by the Free Software Foundation 💖.

✨ ADDENDUM: How to use this License for your documents ✨

To use this License in a document you wrote, include a copy of the License in the document and put the following copyright and license notices just after the title page 🎀:

          Copyright (C)  <year>  <your name>.
          Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
          under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2
          or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation;
          with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts.
          A copy of the license is included in the section entitled ``GNU
          Free Documentation License''.

If you have Invariant Sections, Front-Cover Texts and Back-Cover Texts, swap the with...Texts. line for this one, bestie 🎀:

with the Invariant Sections being <list their titles>, with
the Front-Cover Texts being <list>, and with the Back-Cover Texts
being <list>.

If you've got Invariant Sections without Cover Texts, or some other combo of the three, just mash those two alternatives together so they fit your situation 💅✨

Okay, real talk 🫶 if your document has nontrivial examples of program code, we highly recommend releasing those examples under your favourite free software license too, like the GNU General Public License. That way people can actually use them in free software. Sharing is caring, periodt 🌈

💌 SEE ALSO 💌

Copyright (c) 2000 Free Software Foundation, Inc.  59 Temple Place,
Suite 330, Boston, MA  02111-1307, USA

Everyone is allowed to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this license document, but changing it is not allowed 🙅‍♀️💜

Okay bestie, that's the whole GFDL(7) tea ☕🧚 Huge thanks to gcc-3.3 for the docs, and the page was last updated on 2003-03-01 🦋 Now go forth and document like the legend you are 👑💖

📦 where this page comes from