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System Administrator Guide
C-24
When a “work that uses the Library” uses material from a header file that is part of the
Library, the object code for the work may be a derivative work of the Library even though
the source code is not. Whether this is true is especially significant if the work can be
linked without the Library, or if the work is itself a library. The threshold for this to be true
is not precisely defined by law.
If such an object file uses only numerical parameters, data structure layouts and accessors,
and small macros and small inline functions (ten lines or less in length), then the use of the
object file is unrestricted, regardless of whether it is legally a derivative work.
(Executables containing this object code plus portions of the Library will still fall under
Section 6.)
Otherwise, if the work is a derivative of the Library, you may distribute the object code for
the work under the terms of Section 6. Any executables containing that work also fall
under Section 6, whether or not they are linked directly with the Library itself.
7. As an exception to the Sections above, you may also combine or link a “work that uses the
Library” with the Library to produce a work containing portions of the Library, and
distribute that work under terms of your choice, provided that the terms permit
modification of the work for the customer’s own use and reverse engineering for
debugging such modifications.
You must give prominent notice with each copy of the work that the Library is used in it
and that the Library and its use are covered by this License. You must supply a copy of this
License. If the work during execution displays copyright notices, you must include the
copyright notice for the Library among them, as well as a reference directing the user to
the copy of this License. Also, you must do one of these things:
a. Accompany the work with the complete corresponding machine-readable source code
for the Library including whatever changes were used in the work (which must be
distributed under Sections 1 and 2 above); and, if the work is an executable linked with the
Library, with the complete machine-readable “work that uses the Library”, as object code
and/or source code, so that the user can modify the Library and then relink to produce a
modified executable containing the modified Library. (It is understood that the user who
changes the contents of definitions files in the Library will not necessarily be able to
recompile the application to use the modified definitions.)
b. Use a suitable shared library mechanism for linking with the Library. A suitable
mechanism is one that (1) uses at run time a copy of the library already present on the
user’s computer system, rather than copying library functions into the executable, and (2)
will operate properly with a modified version of the library, if the user installs one, as long
as the modified version is interface-compatible with the version that the work was made
with.
c. Accompany the work with a written offer, valid for at least three years, to give the same
user the materials specified in Subsection 6a, above, for a charge no more than the cost of
performing this distribution.
d. If distribution of the work is made by offering access to copy from a designated place,
offer equivalent access to copy the above specified materials from the same place.
e. Verify that the user has already received a copy of these materials or that you have
already sent this user a copy.