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Texinfo files should contain sections that tell the readers that they have the right to copy and distribute the Texinfo file, the Info file, and the printed manual.
Also, if you are writing a manual about software, you should explain that the software is free and either include the GNU General Public License (GPL) or provide a reference to it. See section `Distribution' in The GNU Emacs Manual, for an example of the text that could be used in the software "Distribution", "General Public License", and "NO WARRANTY" sections of a document. See section Texinfo Copying Conditions, for an example of a brief explanation of how the copying conditions provide you with rights.
In a Texinfo file, the first @ifinfo section usually begins
with a line that says what the file documents. This is what a person
reading the unprocessed Texinfo file or using the advanced Info
command g * sees first. See Info file `info', node `Expert', for more information. (A reader using the regular
Info commands usually starts reading at the first node and skips
this first section, which is not in a node.)
In the @ifinfo section, the summary sentence is followed by a
copyright notice and then by the copying permission notice. One of
the copying permission paragraphs is enclosed in @ignore and
@end ignore commands. This paragraph states that the Texinfo
file can be processed through TeX and printed, provided the printed
manual carries the proper copying permission notice. This paragraph
is not made part of the Info file since it is not relevant to the Info
file; but it is a mandatory part of the Texinfo file since it permits
people to process the Texinfo file in TeX and print the
results.
In the printed manual, the Free Software Foundation copying permission
notice follows the copyright notice and publishing information and is
located within the region delineated by the @titlepage and
@end titlepage commands. The copying permission notice is exactly
the same as the notice in the @ifinfo section except that the
paragraph enclosed in @ignore and @end ignore commands is
not part of the notice.
To make it simple to insert a permission notice into each section of the Texinfo file, sample permission notices for each section are reproduced in full below.
Note that you may need to specify the correct name of a section mentioned in the permission notice. For example, in The GDB Manual, the name of the section referring to the General Public License is called the "GDB General Public License", but in the sample shown below, that section is referred to generically as the "GNU General Public License". If the Texinfo file does not carry a copy of the General Public License, leave out the reference to it, but be sure to include the rest of the sentence.
In the @ifinfo section of a Texinfo file, the standard Free
Software Foundation permission notice reads as follows:
This file documents ... Copyright 1998 Free Software Foundation, Inc. Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved on all copies. @ignore Permission is granted to process this file through TeX and print the results, provided the printed document carries a copying permission notice identical to this one except for the removal of this paragraph (this paragraph not being relevant to the printed manual). @end ignore Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided also that the sections entitled "Copying" and "GNU General Public License" are included exactly as in the original, and provided that the entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a permission notice identical to this one. Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions, except that this permission notice may be stated in a translation approved by the Free Software Foundation.
In the @titlepage section of a Texinfo file, the standard Free
Software Foundation copying permission notice follows the copyright
notice and publishing information. The standard phrasing is as
follows:
Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved on all copies. Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided also that the sections entitled "Copying" and "GNU General Public License" are included exactly as in the original, and provided that the entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a permission notice identical to this one. Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions, except that this permission notice may be stated in a translation approved by the Free Software Foundation.
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