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``` | ||
Perl is Copyright (C) 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, | ||
2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, | ||
2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 by Larry Wall and others. | ||
All rights reserved. | ||
``` | ||
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# About Perl | ||
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Perl is a general-purpose programming language originally developed for | ||
text manipulation and now used for a wide range of tasks including | ||
system administration, web development, network programming, GUI | ||
development, and more. | ||
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The language is intended to be practical (easy to use, efficient, | ||
complete) rather than beautiful (tiny, elegant, minimal). Its major | ||
features are that it's easy to use, supports both procedural and | ||
object-oriented (OO) programming, has powerful built-in support for text | ||
processing, and has one of the world's most impressive collections of | ||
third-party modules. | ||
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For an introduction to the language's features, see [`pod/perlintro.pod`](https://github.com/Perl/perl5/blob/blead/pod/perlintro.pod). | ||
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For a discussion of the important changes in this release, see | ||
[`pod/perldelta.pod`](https://github.com/Perl/perl5/blob/blead/pod/perldelta.pod). | ||
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There are also many Perl books available, covering a wide variety of topics, | ||
from various publishers. See [`pod/perlbook.pod`](https://github.com/Perl/perl5/blob/blead/pod/perlbook.pod) for more information. | ||
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# Installation | ||
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If you're using a relatively modern operating system and want to | ||
install this version of Perl locally, run the following commands: | ||
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``` | ||
./Configure -des -Dprefix=$HOME/localperl | ||
make test | ||
make install | ||
``` | ||
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This will configure and compile perl for your platform, run the regression | ||
tests, and install perl in a subdirectory `localperl` of your home directory. | ||
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If you run into any trouble whatsoever or you need to install a customized | ||
version of Perl, you should read the detailed instructions in the [`INSTALL`](https://github.com/Perl/perl5/blob/blead/INSTALL) | ||
file that came with this distribution. Additionally, there are a number of | ||
"README" files with hints and tips about building and using Perl on a wide | ||
variety of platforms, some more common than others. | ||
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Once you have Perl installed, a wealth of documentation is available to you | ||
through the [`perldoc`](https://perldoc.perl.org/perldoc) tool. To get started, run this command: | ||
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``` | ||
perldoc perl | ||
``` | ||
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# If you run into trouble | ||
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Perl is a large and complex system that's used for everything from | ||
knitting to rocket science. If you run into trouble, it's quite | ||
likely that someone else has already solved the problem you're | ||
facing. Once you've exhausted the documentation, please report bugs to us | ||
at the GitHub issue tracker at [perl5/issues](https://github.com/Perl/perl5/issues) | ||
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While it was current when we made it available, Perl is constantly evolving | ||
and there may be a more recent version that fixes bugs you've run into or | ||
adds new features that you might find useful. | ||
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You can always find the latest version of perl on a [CPAN](https://www.cpan.org/) (Comprehensive Perl | ||
Archive Network) site near you at [cpan.org/src](https://www.cpan.org/src/) | ||
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If you want to submit a simple patch to the perl source, see the [SUPER | ||
QUICK PATCH GUIDE](https://perldoc.perl.org/perlhack#SUPER-QUICK-PATCH-GUIDE) in [`pod/perlhack.pod`](https://github.com/Perl/perl5/blob/blead/pod/perlhack.pod). | ||
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Just a personal note: I want you to know that I create nice things like this | ||
because it pleases the Author of my story. If this bothers you, then your | ||
notion of Authorship needs some revision. But you can use perl anyway. :-) | ||
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The author. | ||
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# Licensing | ||
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This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify | ||
it under the terms of either: | ||
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a) the GNU General Public License as published by the Free | ||
Software Foundation; either version 1, or (at your option) any | ||
later version, or | ||
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b) the "Artistic License" which comes with this Kit. | ||
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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 either | ||
the GNU General Public License or the Artistic License for more details. | ||
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You should have received a copy of the Artistic License with this | ||
Kit, in the file named [`Artistic`](https://github.com/Perl/perl5/blob/blead/Artistic). If not, I'll be glad to provide one. | ||
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You should also have received a copy of the GNU General Public License | ||
along with this program in the file named [`Copying`](https://github.com/Perl/perl5/blob/blead/Copying). If not, write to the | ||
Free Software Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, | ||
Boston, MA 02110-1301, USA or visit their web page on the internet at | ||
[gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html](https://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html). | ||
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For those of you that choose to use the GNU General Public License, | ||
my interpretation of the GNU General Public License is that no Perl | ||
script falls under the terms of the GPL unless you explicitly put | ||
said script under the terms of the GPL yourself. Furthermore, any | ||
object code linked with perl does not automatically fall under the | ||
terms of the GPL, provided such object code only adds definitions | ||
of subroutines and variables, and does not otherwise impair the | ||
resulting interpreter from executing any standard Perl script. I | ||
consider linking in C subroutines in this manner to be the moral | ||
equivalent of defining subroutines in the Perl language itself. You | ||
may sell such an object file as proprietary provided that you provide | ||
or offer to provide the Perl source, as specified by the GNU General | ||
Public License. (This is merely an alternate way of specifying input | ||
to the program.) You may also sell a binary produced by the dumping of | ||
a running Perl script that belongs to you, provided that you provide or | ||
offer to provide the Perl source as specified by the GPL. (The | ||
fact that a Perl interpreter and your code are in the same binary file | ||
is, in this case, a form of mere aggregation.) This is my interpretation | ||
of the GPL. If you still have concerns or difficulties understanding | ||
my intent, feel free to contact me. Of course, the Artistic License | ||
spells all this out for your protection, so you may prefer to use that. |