/ 
Software-License-OrLaterPack-0.009
River stage two • 1 direct dependent • 10 total dependents
/ Software::License::OrLaterPack

NAME

Software::License::OrLaterPack - Set of GNU licenses with "or later" clause

VERSION

Version 0.009.

WHAT?

Software-License-OrLaterPack is an add-on for Software-License, a set of licenses with "or later" clause (like GPL_3::or_later). It allows Perl developers (who use Dist-Zilla) to release their work under the terms of a License version N or (at user option) any later version.

Software-License-OrLaterPack is free sotfware.

QUICK START

Install the distribution:

$ cpanm Software::License::OrLaterPack

Then use desired license in your dist.ini file, e. g.:

license = GPL_3::or_later

LIST OF PROVIDED LICENSES

AGPL_3::or_later
GPL_1::or_later
GPL_2::or_later
GPL_3::or_later
LGPL_2_1::or_later
LGPL_3_0::or_later

WHY?

Dist-Zilla is a popular tool for building CPAN distributions. Build process is controlled by dist.ini, Dist-Zilla configuration file. A distribution author can specify license covering his work by a line in dist.ini file:

license = NAME

where NAME is a name of module from Software::License hierarchy.

Software-License is shipped with a set of popular licenses, from Apache_1_1 to Zlib, including GNU licenses (GPL), including their "Affero" and "Lesser" variants.

So, if a developer wants to release his work under the terms of the GPL version 3, he should write in his dist.ini:

license = GPL_3

However, Free Software Foundation recommends using clause "license version N or (at your option) any later version". Unfortunately, Software-License distribution does not supply (out of the box) a way to express such clause.

Software-License-OrLaterPack fulfills the lack. If Software-License-OrLaterPack is installed, a developer can specify in his dist.ini:

license = GPL_3::or_later

SOURCE VS DISTRIBUTION

You may face Software-License-OrLaterPack in source or distribution form.

If you are going to release your Perl distribution under the terms of "upgradable" license, you will likely be interested in using Software-License-OrLaterPack distribution.

Since Perl is an interpreting language, modules in the distribution look like sources. Actually, they are Perl source files. But they are not actual sources, because they are built (preprocessed or generated) by Dist-Zilla. If you are going to develop (or hack) the Software-License-OrLaterPack itself, you will likely need the actual source, not distribution.

How to distinguish source and distribution:

  • Source may contain Mercurial files and directories .hgignore, .hgtags, .hg/, while distribution should not.

  • Source should contain files dist.ini, weaver.ini, while distribution may not.

  • Source should not contain xt/ directory, while distribution should.

  • Name of source directory does not include version, while name of distribution does.

SOURCE

Software-License-OrLaterPack source is in Mercurial repository hosted on SourceForge. You can either browse the source online or clone the repository:

$ hg clone http://hg.code.sf.net/p/orlaterpack/code Software-License-OrLaterPack

Source files

Software-License-OrLaterPack source files usually include a comment near the top of the file:

This file is part of Software-License-OrLaterPack.

Not all source files are included into distribution. Some source files are used at distribution build time only, and not required for installation.

DISTRIBUTION

Software-License-OrLaterPack distributions are published on CPAN.

Generated files

Distribution may cointain files preprocessed or generated by Dist-Zilla and its plugins. Some generated files are made from Software-License-OrLaterPack source, but some are generated from third-party templates. Files generated from third-party templates usually include a comment near the top of the file:

This file was generated with NAME

(where NAME is a name of the plugin generated the file). Such files are not part of Software-License-OrLaterPack source, and Software-License-OrLaterPack copyright and license are not applicable to such files.

INSTALLING A DISTRIBUTION

With cpanm

cpanm tool is the easiest way to install distribution. It automates downloading, building, testing, installing, and uninstalling.

To install the latest version from CPAN:

$ cpanm Software::License::OrLaterPack

To install a specific version (e. g. 0.007) from CPAN:

$ cpanm Software::License::OrLaterPack@0.007

To install locally available distribution (e. g. previously downloaded from CPAN or built from sources):

$ cpanm ./Software-License-OrLaterPack-0.007.tar.gz

To uninstall the distribution:

$ cpanm -U Software::License::OrLaterPack

Manually

To install distribution tarball manually (let us assume you have version 0.007 of the distribution):

$ tar xaf Software-License-OrLaterPack-0.007.tar.gz
$ cd Software-License-OrLaterPack-0.007
$ perl Build.PL
$ ./Build build
$ ./Build test
$ ./Build install

See also

How to install CPAN modules

HACKING THE SOURCE

For hacking, you will need Mercurial, Perl interpreter and Dist-Zilla (with some plugins), and likely cpanm to install missed parts.

Clone the repository first:

$ hg clone http://hg.code.sf.net/p/orlaterpack/code Software-License-OrLaterPack
$ cd Software-License-OrLaterPack

To build a distribution from the source, run:

$ PERL5LIB=lib:$PERL5LIB dzil build

If required Dist-Zilla plugins are missed, dzil tool will warn you and show the command to install all the required plugins.

To run the tests:

$ PERL5LIB=lib:$PERL5LIB dzil test

To run all the tests, including release tests:

$ PERL5LIB=lib:$PERL5LIB dzil test --release

To install the distribution:

$ PERL5LIB=lib:$PERL5LIB dzil install

or

$ cpanm ./Software-License-OrLaterPack-VERSION.tar.gz

where VERSION is a version of built distribution.

BROWSING THE DOCUMENTATION

Online

The easiest way is browsing the documentation online at meta::cpan.

Locally installed

If you have the distribution installed, use perldoc tool to browse locally installed documentation:

$ perldoc Software::License::OrLaterPack
$ perldoc Software::License::GPL_3::or_later

Built from source

If you are hacking the sources, build Software-License-OrLaterPack first, then:

$ PERL5LIB=lib:$PERL5LIB perldoc Software::License::OrLaterPack
$ PERL5LIB=lib:$PERL5LIB perldoc Software::License::GPL_3::or_later

REPORTING BUGS

There are few ways to reports bugs and/or provide feedback:

Bug tracker at CPAN

You need a CPAN/PAUSE account in oder to report bugs via the web interface. Alternatively, you may try to login using your OpenID. (On 2015-04-27 I have logged in successfully with my OpenID provided by LiveJournal, but I failed to login with OpenID provided by Google. I did not check other OpenID providers.)

Browsing bugs does not require authentication.

CPAN web page also says:

The quickest way to report a bug in Software-License-OrLaterPack is by
sending email to bug-Software-License-OrLaterPack [at] rt.cpan.org.

However, I did not try this yet.

Bug tracker at SourceForge

You need a SourceForge account in order to report bugs.

Email to author

As a last resort, email to author: Van de Bugger <van.de.bugger@gmail.com>. Please start message subject with "Software-License-OrLaterPack: ".

GLOSSARY

CPAN

Comprehensive Perl Archive Network, a large collection of Perl software and documentation. See cpan.org, What is CPAN?.

Distribution

Tarball, containing Perl modules and accompanying files (documentation, metainfo, tests). Usually distributions are uploaded to CPAN, and can be installed with dedicated tools (cpan, cpanm, and others).

Module

Perl library file, usually with .pm suffix. Usually contains one package. See perlmod.

Package

Perl language construct. See package and perlmod.

SEE ALSO

AUTHOR

Van de Bugger <van.de.bugger@gmail.com>

COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE

Copyright © 2015 Van de Bugger

Software-License-OrLaterPack 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 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

Software-License-OrLaterPack 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 Software-License-OrLaterPack. If not, see http://www.gnu.org/licenses/.

Software-License-OrLaterPack distribution may contain files generated by Dist-Zilla and/or its plugins from third-party templates; copyright and license specified above are not applicable to that files.