Wikipedia: Text of the GNU
Free Documentation License
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Version 1.2, November 2002
Copyright (C) 2000,2001,2002 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.
0. PREAMBLE
The purpose of this License is to make a manual,
textbook, or other functional and useful
document "free" in the sense of freedom: to
assure everyone the effective freedom to copy
and redistribute it, with or without modifying
it, either commercially or noncommercially.
Secondarily, this License preserves for the
author and publisher a way to get credit for
their work, while not being considered
responsible for modifications made by others.
This License is a kind of "copyleft", which
means that derivative works of the document must
themselves be free in the same sense. It
complements the GNU General Public License,
which is a copyleft license designed for free
software.
We have designed this License in order to use it
for manuals for free software, because free
software needs free documentation: a free
program should come with manuals providing the
same freedoms that the software does. But this
License is not limited to software manuals; it
can be used for any textual work, regardless of
subject matter or whether it is published as a
printed book. We recommend this License
principally for works whose purpose is
instruction or reference.
1. APPLICABILITY AND DEFINITIONS
This License applies to any manual or other
work, in any medium, that contains a notice
placed by the copyright holder saying it can be
distributed under the terms of this License.
Such a notice grants a world-wide, royalty-free
license, unlimited in duration, to use that work
under the conditions stated herein. The
"Document", below, refers to any such manual or
work. Any member of the public is a licensee,
and is addressed as "you". You accept the
license if you copy, modify or distribute the
work in a way requiring 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) and contains nothing that could fall
directly within that overall subject. (Thus, if
the Document is in part a textbook of
mathematics, a Secondary Section may not explain
any mathematics.) The relationship could be a
matter of historical connection with the subject
or with related matters, or of legal,
commercial, philosophical, ethical or political
position regarding them.
The "Invariant Sections" are certain Secondary
Sections whose titles are designated, as being
those of Invariant Sections, in the notice that
says that the Document is released under this
License. If a section does not fit the above
definition of Secondary then it is not allowed
to be designated as Invariant. The Document may
contain zero Invariant Sections. If the Document
does not identify any Invariant Sections then
there are none.
The "Cover Texts" are certain short passages of
text that are listed, as Front-Cover Texts or
Back-Cover Texts, in the notice that says that
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, represented in a format
whose specification is available to the general
public, that is suitable for revising the
document straightforwardly with generic text
editors or (for images composed of pixels)
generic paint programs or (for drawings) some
widely available drawing editor, and that is
suitable for input to text formatters or for
automatic translation to a variety of formats
suitable for input to text formatters. A copy
made in an otherwise Transparent file format
whose markup, or absence of markup, has been
arranged to thwart or discourage subsequent
modification by readers is not Transparent. An
image format is not Transparent if used for any
substantial amount of text. A copy that is not
"Transparent" is called "Opaque".
Examples of suitable formats for Transparent
copies include plain ASCII without markup,
Texinfo input format, LaTeX input format, SGML
or XML using a publicly available DTD, and
standard-conforming simple HTML, PostScript or
PDF designed for human modification. Examples of
transparent image formats include PNG, XCF and
JPG. Opaque formats include proprietary formats
that can be read and edited only by proprietary
word processors, SGML or XML for which the DTD
and/or processing tools are not generally
available, and the machine-generated HTML,
PostScript or PDF produced by some word
processors for output purposes only.
The "Title Page" means, for a printed book, the
title page itself, plus such following pages as
are needed to hold, legibly, the material this
License requires to appear in the title page.
For works in formats which do not have any title
page as such, "Title Page" means the text near
the most prominent appearance of the work's
title, preceding 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 in 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 that it remains a
section "Entitled XYZ" according to this
definition.
The Document may include Warranty Disclaimers
next to the notice which states that this
License applies to the Document. These Warranty
Disclaimers are considered to be included by
reference in this License, but only as regards
disclaiming warranties: any other implication
that these Warranty Disclaimers may 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, either 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 on the front cover, and
Back-Cover Texts 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 in addition.
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
thus 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 is requested, but not required, that you
contact the authors of the Document well before
redistributing any large number of copies, to
give them a chance to provide you with 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, thus licensing distribution and
modification of the Modified Version to whoever
possesses a copy of it. In addition, 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. List on the Title Page, as authors, one or
more persons or entities responsible for
authorship of the modifications in the Modified
Version, together with at least five of the
principal authors of the Document (all of its
principal authors, if it has fewer than five),
unless they release you from this requirement.
C. State on the Title page the name of the
publisher of the Modified Version, as the
publisher.
D. Preserve all the copyright notices of the
Document.
E. Add an appropriate copyright notice for your
modifications adjacent to the other copyright
notices.
F. Include, immediately after the copyright
notices, a license notice giving the public
permission to use the Modified Version under the
terms of this License, in the form shown in the
Addendum below.
G. Preserve in that license notice the full
lists of Invariant Sections and required Cover
Texts given in the Document's license notice.
H. Include an unaltered copy of this License.
I. Preserve the section Entitled "History",
Preserve its Title, and add to it an item
stating at least the title, year, new authors,
and publisher of the Modified Version as given
on the Title Page. If there is no section
Entitled "History" in the Document, create one
stating the title, year, authors, and publisher
of the Document as given on its Title Page, then
add an item describing the Modified Version as
stated in the previous sentence.
J. Preserve the network location, if any, given
in the Document for public access to a
Transparent copy of the Document, and likewise
the network locations given in the Document for
previous versions it was based on. These may be
placed in the "History" section. You may omit 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 Entitled "Acknowledgements"
or "Dedications", Preserve the Title of the
section, and preserve in the section all the
substance and tone of each of the contributor
acknowledgements and/or dedications given
therein.
L. Preserve all the Invariant Sections of the
Document, unaltered in their text and in their
titles. Section numbers or the equivalent are
not considered part of the section titles.
M. Delete any section Entitled "Endorsements".
Such a section may not be included in the
Modified Version.
N. Do not retitle any existing section to be
Entitled "Endorsements" or to conflict in title
with any Invariant Section.
O. Preserve any Warranty Disclaimers.
If the Modified Version includes new
front-matter sections or appendices that qualify
as Secondary Sections and contain no material
copied from the Document, you may at your option
designate some or all of these sections as
invariant. To do this, add their titles to the
list of Invariant Sections in the Modified
Version's license notice. These titles must be
distinct from any other section titles.
You may add a section Entitled "Endorsements",
provided it contains nothing but endorsements of
your Modified Version by various parties--for
example, statements of peer review or that the
text has been approved by an organization as the
authoritative definition of a standard.
You may add a passage of up to five words as a
Front-Cover Text, and a passage of up to 25
words as a Back-Cover Text, to the end of the
list of Cover Texts in the Modified Version.
Only one passage of Front-Cover Text and one of
Back-Cover Text may be added by (or through
arrangements made by) any one entity. If the
Document already includes a cover text for the
same cover, previously added by you or by
arrangement made by the same entity you are
acting on behalf of, you may not add another;
but you may replace the old one, on explicit
permission from the previous publisher that
added the old one.
The author(s) and publisher(s) of the Document
do not by this License give permission to use
their names for publicity for or to assert or
imply endorsement of any Modified Version.
5. COMBINING DOCUMENTS
You may combine the Document with other
documents released under this License, under the
terms defined in section 4 above for modified
versions, provided that you include in the
combination all of the Invariant Sections of all
of the original documents, unmodified, and list
them all as Invariant Sections of your combined
work in its license notice, and that you
preserve all their Warranty Disclaimers.
The combined work need only contain one copy of
this License, and multiple identical Invariant
Sections may be replaced with a single copy. If
there are multiple Invariant Sections with the
same name but different contents, make the title
of each such section unique by adding at the end
of it, in parentheses, the name of the original
author or publisher of that section if known, or
else a unique number. Make the same adjustment
to the section titles in the list of Invariant
Sections in the license notice of the combined
work.
In the combination, you must combine any
sections Entitled "History" in the various
original documents, forming one section Entitled
"History"; likewise combine any sections
Entitled "Acknowledgements", and any sections
Entitled "Dedications". You must delete all
sections Entitled "Endorsements."
6. COLLECTIONS OF DOCUMENTS
You may make a collection consisting of the
Document and other documents released under this
License, and replace the individual copies of
this License in the various documents with a
single copy that is included in the collection,
provided that you follow the rules of this
License for verbatim copying of each of the
documents in all other respects.
You may extract a single document from such a
collection, and distribute it individually under
this License, provided you insert a copy of this
License into the extracted document, and follow
this License in all other respects 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 resulting from the compilation is
not used to limit the legal rights of the
compilation's users beyond what the individual
works permit. When the Document is included in
an aggregate, this License does not apply to the
other works in the aggregate which are not
themselves derivative works of the Document.
If the Cover Text requirement of section 3 is
applicable to these copies of the Document, then
if the Document is less than one half of the
entire aggregate, the Document's Cover Texts may
be placed on covers that bracket the Document
within the aggregate, or the electronic
equivalent of covers if the Document is in
electronic form. Otherwise they must appear on
printed covers that bracket the whole aggregate.
8. TRANSLATION
Translation is considered a kind of
modification, so you may distribute translations
of the Document under the terms of section 4.
Replacing Invariant Sections with translations
requires special permission from their copyright
holders, but you may include translations of
some or all Invariant Sections in addition to
the original versions of these Invariant
Sections. You may include a translation of this
License, and all the license notices in the
Document, and any Warranty Disclaimers, provided
that you also include the original English
version of this License and the original
versions of those notices and disclaimers. In
case of a disagreement between the translation
and the original version of this License or a
notice or disclaimer, the original version will
prevail.
If a section in the Document is Entitled
"Acknowledgements", "Dedications", or "History",
the requirement (section 4) to Preserve its
Title (section 1) will typically require
changing the actual title.
9. TERMINATION
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. However, parties who have received
copies, or rights, from you under this License
will not have their licenses terminated so long
as such parties 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. Such new versions
will be similar in spirit to the present
version, but may differ in detail to address new
problems or concerns. See http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/.
Each version of the License is given a
distinguishing version number. If the Document
specifies that a particular numbered version of
this License "or any later version" applies to
it, you have the option of following the terms
and conditions either of that specified version
or of any later version that has been published
(not as a draft) by the Free Software
Foundation. If the Document does not specify a
version number of this License, you may choose
any version ever published (not as a draft) by
the Free Software Foundation.
How to use this License for your documents
To use this License in a document you have
written, 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, replace the
"with...Texts." line with this:
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 have Invariant Sections without Cover
Texts, or some other combination of the three,
merge those two alternatives to suit the
situation.
If your document contains nontrivial examples of
program code, we recommend releasing these
examples in parallel under your choice of free
software license, such as the GNU General Public
License, to permit their use in free software.
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