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# perlgpl

Perl 5 version 16.0 documentation
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# perlgpl

- SYNOPSIS
- DESCRIPTION
- GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE

# SYNOPSIS

     You can refer to this document in Pod via "L<perlgpl>" Or you can see this document by entering "perldoc perlgpl"

# DESCRIPTION

Perl is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of either:

            a) the GNU General Public License as published by the Free        Software Foundation; either version 1, or (at your option) any        later version, or        b) the "Artistic License" which comes with this Kit.

This is the "GNU General Public License, version 1". It's here so that modules, programs, etc., that want to declare this as their distribution license can link to it.

For the Perl Artistic License, see perlartistic.

# GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE

                        GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE                     Version 1, February 1989   Copyright (C) 1989 Free Software Foundation, Inc.                     51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA  02110-1301  USA   Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies  of this license document, but changing it is not allowed.                             Preamble    The license agreements of most software companies try to keep users at the mercy of those companies.  By contrast, our General Public License is intended to guarantee your freedom to share and change free software--to make sure the software is free for all its users.  The General Public License applies to the Free Software Foundation's software and to any other program whose authors commit to using it. You can use it for your programs, too.    When we speak of free software, we are referring to freedom, not price.  Specifically, the General Public License is designed to make sure that you have the freedom to give away or sell copies of free software, that you receive source code or can get it if you want it, that you can change the software or use pieces of it in new free programs; and that you know you can do these things.    To protect your rights, we need to make restrictions that forbid anyone to deny you these rights or to ask you to surrender the rights. These restrictions translate to certain responsibilities for you if you distribute copies of the software, or if you modify it.    For example, if you distribute copies of a such a program, whether gratis or for a fee, you must give the recipients all the rights that you have.  You must make sure that they, too, receive or can get the source code.  And you must tell them their rights.    We protect your rights with two steps: (1) copyright the software, and (2) offer you this license which gives you legal permission to copy, distribute and/or modify the software.        Also, for each author's protection and ours, we want to make certain  that everyone understands that there is no warranty for this free  software.  If the software is modified by someone else and passed on, we  want its recipients to know that what they have is not the original, so  that any problems introduced by others will not reflect on the original  authors' reputations.        The precise terms and conditions for copying, distribution and  modification follow.                                            GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE        TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR COPYING, DISTRIBUTION AND MODIFICATION        0. This License Agreement applies to any program or other work which  contains a notice placed by the copyright holder saying it may be  distributed under the terms of this General Public License.  The  "Program", below, refers to any such program or work, and a "work based  on the Program" means either the Program or any work containing the  Program or a portion of it, either verbatim or with modifications.  Each  licensee is addressed as "you".        1. You may copy and distribute verbatim copies of the Program's source  code as you receive it, in any medium, provided that you conspicuously and  appropriately publish on each copy an appropriate copyright notice and  disclaimer of warranty; keep intact all the notices that refer to this  General Public License and to the absence of any warranty; and give any  other recipients of the Program a copy of this General Public License  along with the Program.  You may charge a fee for the physical act of  transferring a copy.        2. You may modify your copy or copies of the Program or any portion of  it, and copy and distribute such modifications under the terms of Paragraph  1 above, provided that you also do the following:            a) cause the modified files to carry prominent notices stating that          you changed the files and the date of any change; and            b) cause the whole of any work that you distribute or publish, that          in whole or in part contains the Program or any part thereof, either          with or without modifications, to be licensed at no charge to all          third parties under the terms of this General Public License (except          that you may choose to grant warranty protection to some or all          third parties, at your option).            c) If the modified program normally reads commands interactively when          run, you must cause it, when started running for such interactive use          in the simplest and most usual way, to print or display an          announcement including an appropriate copyright notice and a notice          that there is no warranty (or else, saying that you provide a          warranty) and that users may redistribute the program under these          conditions, and telling the user how to view a copy of this General          Public License.            d) You may charge a fee for the physical act of transferring a          copy, and you may at your option offer warranty protection in          exchange for a fee.    Mere aggregation of another independent work with the Program (or its  derivative) on a volume of a storage or distribution medium does not bring  the other work under the scope of these terms.          3. You may copy and distribute the Program (or a portion or derivative of  it, under Paragraph 2) in object code or executable form under the terms of  Paragraphs 1 and 2 above provided that you also do one of the following:            a) accompany it with the complete corresponding machine-readable          source code, which must be distributed under the terms of          Paragraphs 1 and 2 above; or,            b) accompany it with a written offer, valid for at least three          years, to give any third party free (except for a nominal charge          for the cost of distribution) a complete machine-readable copy of the          corresponding source code, to be distributed under the terms of          Paragraphs 1 and 2 above; or,            c) accompany it with the information you received as to where the          corresponding source code may be obtained.  (This alternative is          allowed only for noncommercial distribution and only if you          received the program in object code or executable form alone.)    Source code for a work means the preferred form of the work for making  modifications to it.  For an executable file, complete source code means  all the source code for all modules it contains; but, as a special  exception, it need not include source code for modules which are standard  libraries that accompany the operating system on which the executable  file runs, or for standard header files or definitions files that  accompany that operating system.        4. You may not copy, modify, sublicense, distribute or transfer the  Program except as expressly provided under this General Public License.  Any attempt otherwise to copy, modify, sublicense, distribute or transfer  the Program is void, and will automatically terminate your rights to use  the Program under this License.  However, parties who have received  copies, or rights to use copies, from you under this General Public  License will not have their licenses terminated so long as such parties  remain in full compliance.        5. By copying, distributing or modifying the Program (or any work based  on the Program) you indicate your acceptance of this license to do so,  and all its terms and conditions.        6. Each time you redistribute the Program (or any work based on the  Program), the recipient automatically receives a license from the original  licensor to copy, distribute or modify the Program subject to these  terms and conditions.  You may not impose any further restrictions on the  recipients' exercise of the rights granted herein.          7. The Free Software Foundation may publish revised and/or new versions of the General Public License from time to time.  Such new versions will be similar in spirit to the present version, but may differ in detail to address new problems or concerns.  Each version is given a distinguishing version number.  If the Program specifies a version number of the license which applies to it and "any  later version", you have the option of following the terms and conditions either of that version or of any later version published by the Free Software Foundation.  If the Program does not specify a version number of the license, you may choose any version ever published by the Free Software Foundation.    8. If you wish to incorporate parts of the Program into other free programs whose distribution conditions are different, write to the author to ask for permission.  For software which is copyrighted by the Free Software Foundation, write to the Free Software Foundation; we sometimes make exceptions for this.  Our decision will be guided by the two goals of preserving the free status of all derivatives of our free software and of promoting the sharing and reuse of software generally.                             NO WARRANTY    9. BECAUSE THE PROGRAM IS LICENSED FREE OF CHARGE, THERE IS NO WARRANTY FOR THE PROGRAM, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW.  EXCEPT WHEN OTHERWISE STATED IN WRITING THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND/OR OTHER PARTIES PROVIDE THE PROGRAM "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE PROGRAM IS WITH YOU.  SHOULD THE PROGRAM PROVE DEFECTIVE, YOU ASSUME THE COST OF ALL NECESSARY SERVICING, REPAIR OR CORRECTION.    10. IN NO EVENT UNLESS REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE LAW OR AGREED TO IN WRITING WILL ANY COPYRIGHT HOLDER, OR ANY OTHER PARTY WHO MAY MODIFY AND/OR REDISTRIBUTE THE PROGRAM AS PERMITTED ABOVE, BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR DAMAGES, INCLUDING ANY GENERAL, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE PROGRAM (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO LOSS OF DATA OR DATA BEING RENDERED INACCURATE OR LOSSES SUSTAINED BY YOU OR THIRD PARTIES OR A FAILURE OF THE PROGRAM TO OPERATE WITH ANY OTHER PROGRAMS), EVEN IF SUCH HOLDER OR OTHER PARTY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.                      END OF TERMS AND CONDITIONS         Appendix: How to Apply These Terms to Your New Programs    If you develop a new program, and you want it to be of the greatest possible use to humanity, the best way to achieve this is to make it free software which everyone can redistribute and change under these terms.    To do so, attach the following notices to the program.  It is safest to attach them to the start of each source file to most effectively convey the exclusion of warranty; and each file should have at least the "copyright" line and a pointer to where the full notice is found.      <one line to give the program's name and a brief idea of what it does.>     Copyright (C) 19yy  <name of author>      This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify          it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by          the Free Software Foundation; either version 1, or (at your option)          any later version.            This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,          but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of          MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the          GNU General Public License for more details.            You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License          along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software          Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston MA          02110-1301 USA      Also add information on how to contact you by electronic and paper mail.    If the program is interactive, make it output a short notice like this  when it starts in an interactive mode:            Gnomovision version 69, Copyright (C) 19xx name of author          Gnomovision comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY; for details type 'show w'.          This is free software, and you are welcome to redistribute it          under certain conditions; type 'show c' for details.    The hypothetical commands 'show w' and 'show c' should show the  appropriate parts of the General Public License.  Of course, the  commands you use may be called something other than 'show w' and 'show  c'; they could even be mouse-clicks or menu items--whatever suits your  program.    You should also get your employer (if you work as a programmer) or your  school, if any, to sign a "copyright disclaimer" for the program, if  necessary.  Here a sample; alter the names:        Yoyodyne, Inc., hereby disclaims all copyright interest in the      program 'Gnomovision' (a program to direct compilers to make passes      at assemblers) written by James Hacker.        <signature of Ty Coon>, 1 April 1989      Ty Coon, President of Vice    That's all there is to it!

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- SYNOPSIS
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- GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE