(?p{}) has been deprecated for a long time.
[p5sagit/p5-mst-13.2.git] / README
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a0bda3fb 1Perl is Copyright (C) 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001,
22002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 by Larry Wall and others. All rights reserved.
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a0bda3fb 6ABOUT PERL
7==========
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a0bda3fb 9Perl is a general-purpose programming language originally developed for
10text manipulation and now used for a wide range of tasks including
11system administration, web development, network programming, GUI
12development, and more.
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a0bda3fb 14The language is intended to be practical (easy to use, efficient,
15complete) rather than beautiful (tiny, elegant, minimal). Its major
16features are that it's easy to use, supports both procedural and
17object-oriented (OO) programming, has powerful built-in support for text
18processing, and has one of the world's most impressive collections of
19third-party modules.
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a0bda3fb 21For an introduction to the language's features, see pod/perlintro.pod.
22
23There are also many Perl books available, covering a wide variety of topics,
24from various publishers. See pod/perlbook.pod for more information.
25
26
27INSTALLATION
28============
29
30If you're using a relatively modern operating system and want to
31install this version of Perl locally, run the following commands:
32
b6e5a715 33 ./Configure -des -Dprefix=$HOME/localperl
a0bda3fb 34 make test
35 make install
36
b6e5a715 37This will configure and compile perl for your platform, run the regression
38tests, and install perl in a subdirectory "localperl" of your home directory.
39
a0bda3fb 40If you run into any trouble whatsoever or you need to install a customized
41version of Perl, you should read the detailed instructions in the "INSTALL"
42file that came with this distribution. Additionally, there are a number of
43"README" files with hints and tips about building and using Perl on a wide
44variety of platforms, some more common than others.
45
46Once you have Perl installed, a wealth of documentation is available to you
47through the 'perldoc' tool. To get started, run this command:
48
49 perldoc perl
50
51
52IF YOU RUN INTO TROUBLE
53=======================
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a0bda3fb 55Perl is a large and complex system that's used for everything from
56knitting to rocket science. If you run into trouble, it's quite
57likely that someone else has already solved the problem you're
58facing. Once you've exhausted the documentation, please report bugs to us
59using the 'perlbug' tool. For more information about perlbug, either type
60'perldoc perlbug' or just 'perlbug' on a line by itself.
61
62While it was current when we made it available, Perl is constantly evolving
63and there may be a more recent version that bugs you've run into or adds
64new features that you might find useful.
65
66You can always find the latest version of perl on a CPAN (Comprehensive Perl
67Archive Network) site near you at http://www.cpan.org/src/
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a687059c 69
70Just a personal note: I want you to know that I create nice things like this
71because it pleases the Author of my story. If this bothers you, then your
72notion of Authorship needs some revision. But you can use perl anyway. :-)
73
74 The author.
a0bda3fb 75
76
77LICENSING
78=========
79
80This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
81it under the terms of either:
82
83 a) the GNU General Public License as published by the Free
84 Software Foundation; either version 1, or (at your option) any
85 later version, or
86
87 b) the "Artistic License" which comes with this Kit.
88
89This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
90but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
91MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See either
92the GNU General Public License or the Artistic License for more details.
93
94You should have received a copy of the Artistic License with this
95Kit, in the file named "Artistic". If not, I'll be glad to provide one.
96
97You should also have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
98along with this program in the file named "Copying". If not, write to the
8d9043d1 99Free Software Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor,
100Boston, MA 02110-1301, USA or visit their web page on the internet at
a0bda3fb 101http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html.
102
103For those of you that choose to use the GNU General Public License,
104my interpretation of the GNU General Public License is that no Perl
105script falls under the terms of the GPL unless you explicitly put
106said script under the terms of the GPL yourself. Furthermore, any
107object code linked with perl does not automatically fall under the
108terms of the GPL, provided such object code only adds definitions
109of subroutines and variables, and does not otherwise impair the
110resulting interpreter from executing any standard Perl script. I
111consider linking in C subroutines in this manner to be the moral
112equivalent of defining subroutines in the Perl language itself. You
113may sell such an object file as proprietary provided that you provide
114or offer to provide the Perl source, as specified by the GNU General
115Public License. (This is merely an alternate way of specifying input
116to the program.) You may also sell a binary produced by the dumping of
117a running Perl script that belongs to you, provided that you provide or
118offer to provide the Perl source as specified by the GPL. (The
119fact that a Perl interpreter and your code are in the same binary file
120is, in this case, a form of mere aggregation.) This is my interpretation
121of the GPL. If you still have concerns or difficulties understanding
122my intent, feel free to contact me. Of course, the Artistic License
123spells all this out for your protection, so you may prefer to use that.
124
125