a public license
Free to use, modify, and share — commercially too, once you've sent a letter written the old way.
aeupl.org
In plain terms, before the legal text
his code is free for anyone to use, copy, modify, and share for any non-commercial purpose — no permission needed, no strings attached.
If you want to use it commercially — sell it, ship it in a paid product, run it as a paid service — you need the author's permission first. To ask, you send a letter, written in Latin, on real sheepskin parchment. Ultramarine ink is preferred but not required; any historically attested ink will do.
Everything below is the actual license text that governs.
"The Software" means this codebase and any files distributed with it under this license.
"You" means any individual or entity exercising rights under this license.
"Non-Commercial Use" means any use, copying, modification, or distribution of the Software that is not Commercial Use.
"Commercial Use" means any use of the Software, or of a Derivative Work, where the primary purpose or intended result is financial gain — including selling it, offering it as a paid service, bundling it into a paid product, or using it internally within a for-profit business in a way that generates revenue directly attributable to it. Non-profit use, academic use, personal projects, and evaluation or testing are not Commercial Use, even by a for-profit entity.
"Derivative Work" means any fork, modification, adaptation, or work based on the Software.
"The Author" means the copyright holder identified below.
Subject to the conditions below, the Author grants You, free of charge, a worldwide, non-exclusive, perpetual license to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, and distribute the Software and Derivative Works, for any non-commercial purpose, without restriction and without needing to ask permission.
You must retain this license text and the copyright notice in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
You may exercise Commercial Use of the Software or a Derivative Work only if the condition in Section IV has been satisfied and the Author has granted permission under Section V.
Absent such permission, no rights are granted for Commercial Use, and Commercial Use without it falls outside the scope of this license.
To request permission for Commercial Use, You must send the Author a physical letter meeting the following requirements.
The letter must be sent by physical post to an address the Author makes available for this purpose. There is no prescribed minimum length or literary standard, but the Latin must be intelligible as prose to a competent reader.
Upon receipt of a conforming letter, the Author may, at their sole discretion:
Silence does not constitute consent. Permission, if granted, applies only to the Commercial Use described in the letter unless the Author states otherwise in writing.
This process exists both as a genuine permission mechanism and for the Author's amusement. Both are equally sincere.
The Software is provided "as is", without warranty of any kind, express or implied, including but not limited to the warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. In no event shall the Author be liable for any claim, damages, or other liability arising from the Software or its use.
Nothing in this license restricts the Author's own use of the Software. The Author may use, relicense, sublicense, or sell the Software — including under different terms to different parties — at any time, without needing to comply with the letter requirement themselves.
If any provision of this license is found unenforceable, the remaining provisions remain in full force, and the unenforceable provision shall be interpreted to achieve its intent as closely as possible within the law.