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<title>Applying Copyleft To Non-Software Information |
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- GNU Project - Free Software Foundation</title> |
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<div class="article reduced-width"> |
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<h2>Applying Copyleft To Non-Software Information</h2> |
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|
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<address class="byline">by <a href="http://dsl.org/">Michael Stutz</a></address> |
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|
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<h3 id="what">First, what is Copyleft?</h3> |
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|
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<p> |
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The entry for |
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“<a href="/licenses/copyleft.html">copyleft</a>” in the |
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definitive hacker lexicon, the |
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<a href="http://www.jargon.net/jargonfile/c/copyleft.html">Jargon |
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File</a>, reads:</p> |
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|
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<blockquote><p> |
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copyleft: /kop'ee-left/ [play on “copyright”] n. 1. The |
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copyright notice (“General Public License”) carried by |
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GNU EMACS and other Free Software Foundation software, granting |
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reuse and reproduction rights to all comers (but see also General |
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Public Virus). 2. By extension, any copyright notice intended to |
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achieve similar aims. |
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</p></blockquote> |
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|
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<p>The idea of <a href="/licenses/copyleft.html">copyleft</a> |
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originated with über-hacker <a href="https://www.stallman.org/"> |
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Richard Stallman</a> in 1983 when he started |
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the <a href="/gnu/gnu-history.html">GNU Project</a>. In brief, his |
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goal was “to develop a complete free Unix-like operating |
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system.” As part of that goal, he invented and wrote |
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the <a href="/licenses/gpl.html">GNU General Public License</a>, a |
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legal construct that included a copyright notice but added to it (or, |
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technically, removed certain restrictions), so its terms allowed for |
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the freedoms of reuse, modification and reproduction of a work or its |
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derivatives to be kept for all.</p> |
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|
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<p> |
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Normal <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190805143144/http://www.angelfire.com/planet/carroll/index2.html"> |
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copyright</a> asserts ownership and identification of the author, as |
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well as prevents the use of the author's name as author of a distorted |
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version of the work; it also prevents intentional distortion of the |
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work by others and prevents destruction of the work. But it also |
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carries other restrictions—such as restricting the |
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reproduction or modification of a work.</p> |
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|
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<p> |
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Copyleft contains the normal copyright statement, asserting ownership |
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and identification of the author. However, it then <em>gives away</em> |
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some of the other rights implicit in the normal copyright: it says |
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that not only are you free to redistribute this work, but you are also |
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free to change the work. However, you cannot claim to have written the |
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original work, nor can you claim that these changes were created by |
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someone else. Finally, all derivative works must also be placed under |
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these terms.</p> |
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|
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<h3 id="why">Why is Copyleft important, or even necessary?</h3> |
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|
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<p> |
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Certain restrictions of copyright—such as distribution and |
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modification—are not very useful to “cyberia,” the |
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“free, apolitical, democratic community” that constitutes |
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the internetworked digital world.</p> |
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|
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<p> |
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With computers, perfect copies of a digital work can easily be |
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made—and even modified, or further distributed—by others, |
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with no loss of the original work. As individuals interact in cyberia, |
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sharing information—then reacting and building upon it—is |
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not only natural, but this is the <em>only</em> way for individual |
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beings to thrive in a community. In essence, the idea of copyleft is |
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basic to the natural propagation of digital information among humans |
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in a society. This is why the regular notion of copyright does not |
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make sense in the context of cyberia.</p> |
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|
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<p> |
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Simple “public domain” publication will not work, because |
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some will try to abuse this for profit by depriving others of freedom; |
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as long as we live in a world with a legal system where legal |
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abstractions such as copyright are necessary, as responsible artists |
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or scientists we will need the formal legal abstractions of copyleft |
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that ensure our freedom and the freedom of others.</p> |
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|
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<p> |
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Much literature has been written on this subject by Stallman, and the |
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details can be found in the |
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excellent <a href="/philosophy/philosophy.html">texts</a> published |
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by the Free Software Foundation.</p> |
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|
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<h3 id="gpl">So why isn't the FSF's GNU GPL good enough?</h3> |
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|
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<p> |
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It <em>is</em> good enough! The GNU GPL is not only a document of |
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significant historical and literary value, but it is in wide use today |
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for countless software programs—those as formal part of the |
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GNU Project and otherwise. The GNU GPL originated for the specific |
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goal of sharing software among computer programmers. However, looking |
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closely at the GPL, it appears that the same License can be easily |
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applied to non-software information.</p> |
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|
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<p>Alternately, a document can be copylefted under different, or much |
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simpler terms; whether or not the GNU GPL is the specific means to the |
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end is not the issue, although the GNU GPL certainly provides the most |
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explicit (and canonical) definition of copyleft.</p> |
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<h3 id="how">Ok, so how do I copyleft my non-software work?</h3> |
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<p> |
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It's simple. While a particular situation may require or inspire its |
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own specific License, possibly similar to the GNU GPL, all that a |
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copyleft notice must really do is fulfill the points as defined above |
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in “<a href="#what">First, what is Copyleft?</a>” Using |
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the GNU GPL to copyleft your work is easy.</p> |
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|
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<p> |
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The GNU GPL states that it “applies to any program or other work |
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which contains a notice placed by the copyright holder saying it may |
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be distributed under the terms of this General Public License,” |
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so this “Program,” then, may not necessarily be a computer |
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software program—any work of any nature that can be |
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copyrighted can be copylefted with the GNU GPL.</p> |
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<p> |
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The GNU GPL references the “source code” of a work; this |
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“source code” will mean different things for different |
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kinds of information, but the definition of “source |
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code”—provided in the GNU GPL—holds true in any case: |
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“The source code for a work means the preferred form of the work |
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for making modifications to it.”</p> |
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<p> |
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The notices attached to the work can not always be attached “to |
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the start of each source file,” as recommended by the GNU |
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GPL. In this case, the directory that the files reside should contain |
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a notice, as should any accompanying documentation or literature.</p> |
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|
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<p> |
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Finally, for non-software works the “copyright” line |
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included at the start of the “source code” of the work is |
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modified in language slightly:</p> |
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|
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<blockquote class="emph-box"> |
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<p> |
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<one line to give the work's name and a brief idea of what it does.><br /> |
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Copyright (C) yyyy <name of author> |
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</p><p> |
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This information is free; you can redistribute it and/or modify it |
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under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by |
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the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or |
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(at your option) any later version. |
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</p><p> |
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This work is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, |
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but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of |
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MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the |
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GNU General Public License for more details. |
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|
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You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License |
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along with this work; if not, write to the Free Software |
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Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301, USA. |
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</p> |
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</blockquote> |
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<h3 id="where">Where do I go from here?</h3> |
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<p>Here are sources for further information on copyleft, especially as |
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it is applied to non-software information:</p> |
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<p>The <a href="/home.html">rest of this web site</a> is the home of |
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the GNU Project and is the canonical source for copyleft and |
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free software<a href="#f1">(1)</a>.</p> |
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|
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<p><a href="http://www.ram.org/">Ram Samudrala</a> wrote |
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the <a href="http://www.ram.org/ramblings/philosophy/fmp.html">Free |
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Music Philosophy</a> and creates copylefted music as the |
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band Twisted Helices.</p> |
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|
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<p>Some of my own non-software copylefted works include texts |
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(literature, reviews, <a href="http://dsl.org/cookbook/cookbook_toc.html">technical</a>) |
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and music.</p> |
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<h3 id="fn" class="footnote">Footnote</h3> |
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<ol> |
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<li id="f1">Before 2020, “free software” was confusingly |
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referred to as “freely-redistributable.”</li> |
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</ol> |
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<p>Please send general FSF & GNU inquiries to |
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<a href="mailto:gnu@gnu.org"><gnu@gnu.org></a>. |
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There are also <a href="/contact/">other ways to contact</a> |
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to <a href="mailto:webmasters@gnu.org"><webmasters@gnu.org></a>.</p> |
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<p>Copyright © 1997, 2020 Michael Stutz</p> |
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<p> |
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Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is |
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permitted in any medium, provided this notice is preserved. |
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</p> |
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<p class="unprintable">Updated: |
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<!-- timestamp start --> |
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$Date: 2023/05/10 10:41:16 $ |
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