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-rw-r--r--Master/tlpkg/tlperl/lib/pods/perlfaq1.pod39
1 files changed, 21 insertions, 18 deletions
diff --git a/Master/tlpkg/tlperl/lib/pods/perlfaq1.pod b/Master/tlpkg/tlperl/lib/pods/perlfaq1.pod
index 16f58018049..ba70a822602 100644
--- a/Master/tlpkg/tlperl/lib/pods/perlfaq1.pod
+++ b/Master/tlpkg/tlperl/lib/pods/perlfaq1.pod
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
perlfaq1 - General Questions About Perl
-=head1 DESCRIPTION
+=head1 DESCRIPTION
This section of the FAQ answers very general, high-level questions
about Perl.
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ users the informal support will more than suffice. See the answer to
There is often a matter of opinion and taste, and there isn't any one
answer that fits everyone. In general, you want to use either the current
stable release, or the stable release immediately prior to that one.
-Currently, those are perl5.10.x and perl5.8.x, respectively.
+Currently, those are perl5.14.x and perl5.12.x, respectively.
Beyond that, you have to consider several things and decide which is best
for you.
@@ -101,15 +101,17 @@ for a while, although not at the same level as the current releases.
=item *
-No one is actively supporting Perl 4. Five years ago it was a dead
+No one is actively supporting Perl 4. Ten years ago it was a dead
camel carcass (according to this document). Now it's barely a skeleton
as its whitewashed bones have fractured or eroded.
=item *
There is no Perl 6 release scheduled, but it will be available when
-it's ready. Stay tuned, but don't worry that you'll have to change
-major versions of Perl; no one is going to take Perl 5 away from you.
+it's ready. The joke is that it's scheduled for Christmas, but that we
+just don't know which one. Stay tuned, but don't worry that you'll
+have to change major versions of Perl; no one is going to take Perl 5
+away from you.
=item *
@@ -130,23 +132,24 @@ minor release (i.e. perl5.9.x, where 9 is the minor release).
In short, Perl 4 is the past, Perl 5 is the present, and Perl 6 is the
future.
-The number after perl (i.e. the 5 after Perl 5) is the major release
+The number after Perl (i.e. the 5 after Perl 5) is the major release
of the perl interpreter as well as the version of the language. Each
major version has significant differences that earlier versions cannot
support.
-The current major release of Perl is Perl 5, and was released in 1994.
-It can run scripts from the previous major release, Perl 4 (March 1991),
-but has significant differences. It introduced the concept of references,
-complex data structures, and modules. The Perl 5 interpreter was a
-complete re-write of the previous perl sources.
+The current major release of Perl is Perl 5, and was first released in
+1994. It can run scripts from the previous major release, Perl 4
+(March 1991), but has significant differences. It introduced the
+concept of references, complex data structures, and modules. The Perl
+5 interpreter was a complete re-write of the previous perl sources.
-Perl 6 is the next major version of Perl, but it's still in development
-in both its syntax and design. The work started in 2002 and is still
-ongoing. Many of the most interesting features have shown up in the
-latest versions of Perl 5, and some Perl 5 modules allow you to use some
-Perl 6 syntax in your programs. You can learn more about Perl 6 at
-http://dev.perl.org/perl6/ .
+Perl 6 is the next major version of Perl, although it's not intended to
+replace Perl 5. It's still in development in both its syntax and
+design. The work started in 2002 and is still ongoing. Some of the
+most interesting features have shown up in the latest versions of Perl
+5, and some Perl 5 modules allow you to use some Perl 6 syntax in your
+programs. The current leading implementation of Perl 6 is Rakudo (
+http://rakudo.org ).
See L<perlhist> for a history of Perl revisions.
@@ -367,7 +370,7 @@ might mean that Perl either saves them something (time, headaches, money)
or gives them something (flexibility, power, testability).
In general, the benefit of a language is closely related to the skill of
-the people using that language. If you or your team can be more faster,
+the people using that language. If you or your team can be faster,
better, and stronger through Perl, you'll deliver more value. Remember,
people often respond better to what they get out of it. If you run
into resistance, figure out what those people get out of the other