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<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><title>General Public Virus</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="../../jargon.css" type="text/css"/><meta name="generator" content="DocBook XSL Stylesheets V1.61.0"/><link rel="home" href="../index.html" title="The Jargon File"/><link rel="up" href="../G.html" title="G"/><link rel="previous" href="gender-mender.html" title="gender mender"/><link rel="next" href="generate.html" title="generate"/></head><body><div class="navheader"><table width="100%" summary="Navigation header"><tr><th colspan="3" align="center">General Public Virus</th></tr><tr><td width="20%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="gender-mender.html">Prev</a> </td><th width="60%" align="center">G</th><td width="20%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="generate.html">Next</a></td></tr></table><hr/></div><dt><a id="General-Public-Virus"/><dt xmlns="" id="General-Public-Virus"><b>General Public Virus</b>: <span xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" class="grammar">n.</span></dt></dt><dd><p> Pejorative name for some versions of the <a href="GNU.html"><i class="glossterm">GNU</i></a>
project <a href="../C/copyleft.html"><i class="glossterm">copyleft</i></a> or General Public License (GPL),
which requires that any tools or <a href="../A/app.html"><i class="glossterm">app</i></a>s incorporating
copylefted code must be source-distributed on the same anti-proprietary
terms as GNU stuff. Thus it is alleged that the copyleft
&#8216;infects&#8217; software generated with GNU tools, which may in turn
infect other software that reuses any of its code. The Free Software
Foundation's official position is that copyright law limits the scope of
the GPL to &#8220;<span class="quote">programs textually incorporating significant amounts of
GNU code</span>&#8221;, and that the &#8216;infection&#8217; is not passed on to
third parties unless actual GNU source is transmitted. Nevertheless,
widespread suspicion that the <a href="../C/copyleft.html"><i class="glossterm">copyleft</i></a> language is
&#8216;boobytrapped&#8217; has caused many developers to avoid using GNU
tools and the GPL. Changes in the language of the version 2.0 GPL did not
eliminate this problem.</p></dd><div class="navfooter"><hr/><table width="100%" summary="Navigation footer"><tr><td width="40%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="gender-mender.html">Prev</a> </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="u" href="../G.html">Up</a></td><td width="40%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="generate.html">Next</a></td></tr><tr><td width="40%" align="left" valign="top">gender mender </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="h" href="../index.html">Home</a></td><td width="40%" align="right" valign="top"> generate</td></tr></table></div></body></html>