@node License Texinfo sources
@section License Texinfo sources

Gnulib provides copies of the GNU GPL, GNU LGPL, GNU Affero GPL, and
GNU FDL licenses in Texinfo form.  (The master location is
@url{https://www.gnu.org/licenses/}).  These Texinfo documents do not
have any node names and structures built into them; for your manual,
you should @code{@@include} them in an appropriate @code{@@node}.

The conventional name for the GPL node is @samp{Copying} and for the FDL
@samp{GNU Free Documentation License}.  The LGPL doesn't seem to have
a conventional node name.

Of course the license texts themselves should not be changed at all.

The recommended way to make use of these license files, consistently
with current practice, is as follows:
@itemize
@item
The code license (GNU GPL, GNU LGPL, or GNU Affero GPL) is usually
present as a file in the top-level directory.  This is true not only for
the release tarballs, but also in the VCS repository.  The file is
typically named @samp{COPYING} for the GNU GPL, or @samp{COPYING.LIB} or
@samp{COPYING.LESSER} for the GNU LGPL@.  The presence of this file
fulfills a legal obligation; see
@url{https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#WhyMustIInclude}.

To make use of the code license in your documentation, you may request
one of the modules @code{gpl-3.0}, @code{gpl-2.0}, @code{lgpl-3.0},
@code{lgpl-2.1}, @code{agpl-3.0}, through a @code{gnulib-tool} invocation.
Or you may copy the relevant Texinfo file directly into your VCS repository.
Both approaches are equally good.  The Texinfo file changes very rarely.
@item
The documentation license file (GNU FDL) is usually not present as a
file in the top-level directory, because that would be ambiguous: When
you use the GNU FDL, you need to specify the Invariant Sections, the
Front-Cover Texts, and the Back-Cover Texts.

To make use of this documentation license, copy the relevant Texinfo
file into your VCS repository.  This makes sure that anyone who receives
a copy of your VCS repository has also received a copy of the
documentation license.  In the documentation, also state what are the
Invariant Sections, the Front-Cover Texts, and the Back-Cover Texts.
@end itemize
