Artistic License

The Artistic License is a software license used for certain free software packages, most notably the standard Perl implementation, most of CPAN modules and Parrot, which are dual-licensed under the Artistic License and the GNU General Public License.

It was written by Larry Wall.

While most in the free software community recognise it as a free software license (as do most proponents of the alternative term open source software), it is often heavily criticised for being ambiguous, self-contradictory, and thus virtually impossible to interpret.

The name of the licence is a reference to the concept of artistic licence.

External links

• Text of the Artistic License (Perldoc.com)
• Text of the Artistic License (Opensource.org)