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<title>Speex: Free and Open Source Software</title>
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<h1>Free and Open Source Software</h1>
<p>
	Speex is available under the terms of the
	<a href='http://www.xiph.org/licenses/bsd/speex/'>Xiph.Org variant of the
	BSD license</a>, which is both an
	<a href="http://www.opensource.org/">open source</a> and
	<a href="http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html">free software</a>
	license.  Since there’s some confusion as to what this actually
	<em>means</em> to current and potential users of Speex, this page
	exists to clear up any misunderstandings.
</p>
<p>
	A program is free software per the
	<a href="http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html">Free Software Definition</a>)
	if its users may:
</p>
<ul>
	<li>run the program for any purpose</li>
	<li>study how the program works and adapt it to their needs</li>
	<li>redistribute copies at will</li>
	<li>improve the program and distribute the altered version</li>
</ul>
<p>
	A program is open source if its license complies with the
	<a href="http://www.opensource.org/docs/definition.php">Open Source Definition</a>,
	which, unlike the Free Software Definition, is a bit long to be copied
	here. Most popular free software licenses are open source licenses,
	and vice versa.
</p>
<p>
	There are many licenses that qualify as free software licenses, and
	the Xiph.Org variant of the BSD license is one of them. However,
	some people prefer to release free software under a license that
	<em>copylefts</em> the work, which ensures that all derivative works
	of the copylefted program are <em>also</em> copylefted free software
	programs. The <abbr title="GNU’s Not Unix">GNU</abbr>
	<a href="http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html"
	   title="General Public License">GPL</a> is one popular
	copyleft free software/open source license.
</p>
<p>
	The Xiph.Org variant of the BSD license is
	<strong>not</strong> a copyleft license.
	<br/>
	This means that you can integrate it in proprietary programs, without
	having to release your source code, or anything else.
</p>

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