Software::LicenseUtils - little useful bits of code for licensey things

Author

       Ricardo Signes <cpan@semiotic.systems>

Copyright And License

       This software is copyright (c) 2025 by Ricardo Signes.

       This is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as the Perl 5
       programming language system itself.

perl v5.40.1                                       2025-08-10                        Software::LicenseUtils(3pm)

Methods

guess_license_from_pod
         my @guesses = Software::LicenseUtils->guess_license_from_pod($pm_text);

       Given text containing POD, like a .pm file, this method will attempt to guess at the license under which
       the code is available.  This method will return either a list of Software::License classes names (as
       strings) or false.

       This method looks for a POD heading like 'license', 'copyright', or 'legal'.

       Calling this method in scalar context is a fatal error.

   guess_license_from_meta
         my @guesses = Software::LicenseUtils->guess_license_from_meta($meta_str);

       Given the content of the META.(yml|json) file found in a CPAN distribution, this method makes a guess as
       to which licenses may apply to the distribution.  It will return a list of zero or more Software::License
       instances or classes.

   guess_license_from_meta_key
         my @guesses = Software::LicenseUtils->guess_license_from_meta_key($key, $v);

       This method returns zero or more Software::License classes known to use $key as their META key.  If $v is
       supplied, it specifies whether to treat $key as a v1 or v2 meta entry.  Any value other than 1 or 2 will
       raise an exception.

   new_from_short_name
         my $license_object = Software::LicenseUtils->new_from_short_name( {
            short_name => 'GPL-1',
            holder => 'X. Ample'
         }) ;

       Create a new Software::License object from the license specified with "short_name". Known short license
       names are "GPL-*", "LGPL-*" , "Artistic" and "Artistic-*"

   new_from_spdx_expression
         my $license_object = Software::LicenseUtils->new_from_spdx_expression( {
            spdx_expression => 'MPL-2.0',
            holder => 'X. Ample'
         }) ;

       Create a new Software::License object from the license specified with "spdx_expression". Some licenses
       doesn't have an spdx identifier (for example Software::License::Perl_5), so you can pass spdx identifier
       but also expressions.  Known spdx license identifiers are "BSD", "MPL-1.0".

Name

       Software::LicenseUtils - little useful bits of code for licensey things

Perl Version

       This module is part of CPAN toolchain, or is treated as such.  As such, it follows the agreement of the
       Perl Toolchain Gang to require no newer version of perl than one released in the last ten years.  This
       version may change by agreement of the Toolchain Gang, but for now is governed by the Lancaster Consensus
       <https://github.com/Perl-Toolchain-Gang/toolchain-site/blob/master/lancaster-consensus.md> of 2013 and
       the Lyon Amendment of 2023 (described at the linked-to document).

       Although it may work on older versions of perl, no guarantee is made that the minimum required version
       will not be increased.  The version may be increased for any reason, and there is no promise that patches
       will be accepted to lower the minimum required perl.