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<!-- $Id: about-copyright.xml,v 1.3 2003/09/19 02:02:31 toff Exp $ -->
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<sect1>
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<title>About Copyrights and Software Licenses
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</title>
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<para>
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We're sure that you've read some of the licenses that come with most
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commercial software — they usually say that you can only use one
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copy of the software on a single computer. This system's license
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isn't like that at all. We encourage you to put a copy of on every
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computer in your school or place of business. Lend your installation
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media to your friends and help them install it on their computers!
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You can even make thousands of copies and <emphasis>sell</emphasis>
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them — albeit with a few restrictions. Your freedom to install
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and use the system comes directly from Debian being based on
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<emphasis>free software</emphasis>.
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</para><para>
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Calling software ``free'' doesn't mean that the software isn't
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copyrighted, and it doesn't mean that CDs containing that software
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must be distributed at no charge. Free software, in part, means that
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the licenses of individual programs do not require you to pay for the
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privilege of distributing or using those programs. Free software also
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means that not only may anyone extend, adapt, and modify the software,
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but that they may distribute the results of their work as
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well.
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<footnote>
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<para>
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Note that the Debian project, as a pragmatic concession to its users,
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does make some packages available that do not meet our criteria for
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being free. These packages are not part of the official distribution,
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however, and are only available from the
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<userinput>contrib</userinput> or <userinput>non-free</userinput>
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areas of Debian mirrors or on third-party CD-ROMs; see the
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<ulink url="&url-debian-faq;">Debian FAQ</ulink>, under
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``The Debian FTP archives'', for more information about the layout
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and contents of the archives.
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</para>
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</footnote>
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</para><para>
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Many of the programs in the system are licensed under the
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<emphasis>GNU</emphasis> <emphasis>General Public License</emphasis>,
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often simply referred to as ``the GPL''. The GPL requires you to make
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the <emphasis>source code</emphasis> of the programs available
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whenever you distribute a binary copy of the program; that provision
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of the license ensures that any user will be able to modify the
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software. Because of this provision, the source code for all such
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programs is available in the Debian system.<footnote>
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<para>
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For information on how to locate, unpack, and build
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binaries from Debian source packages, see the
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<ulink url="http://www.debian.org/doc/FAQ/">Debian FAQ</ulink>,
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under ``Basics of the Debian Package Management System''.
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</para>
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</footnote>
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</para><para>
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There are several other forms of copyright statements and software
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licenses used on the programs in Debian. You can find the copyrights
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and licenses for every package installed on your system by looking in
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the file
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<userinput>/usr/share/doc/<replaceable>package-name</replaceable>/copyright
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</userinput>
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once you've installed a package on your system.
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</para><para>
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For more information about licenses and how Debian determines whether
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software is free enough to be included in the main distribution, see the
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<ulink url="http://www.debian.org/social_contract#guidelines">Debian
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Free Software Guidelines</ulink>.
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</para><para>
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The most important legal notice is that this software comes with
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<emphasis>no warranties</emphasis>. The programmers who have created this
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software have done so for the benefit of the community. No guarantee
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is made as to the suitability of the software for any given purpose.
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However, since the software is free, you are empowered to modify that
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software to suit your needs — and to enjoy the benefits of the
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changes made by others who have extended the software in this way.
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</para>
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</sect1>
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