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diff --git a/Master/tlpkg/tlperl/lib/pods/perlfaq2.pod b/Master/tlpkg/tlperl/lib/pods/perlfaq2.pod index 4e891a6865a..e890cc34a1a 100644 --- a/Master/tlpkg/tlperl/lib/pods/perlfaq2.pod +++ b/Master/tlpkg/tlperl/lib/pods/perlfaq2.pod @@ -8,11 +8,11 @@ This section of the FAQ answers questions about where to find source and documentation for Perl, support, and related matters. -=head2 What machines support perl? Where do I get it? +=head2 What machines support Perl? Where do I get it? -The standard release of perl (the one maintained by the perl +The standard release of Perl (the one maintained by the Perl development team) is distributed only in source code form. You -can find the latest releases at http://www.cpan.org/src/README.html . +can find the latest releases at L<http://www.cpan.org/src/>. Perl builds and runs on a bewildering number of platforms. Virtually all known and current Unix derivatives are supported (perl's native @@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ platform), as are other systems like VMS, DOS, OS/2, Windows, QNX, BeOS, OS X, MPE/iX and the Amiga. Binary distributions for some proprietary platforms can be found -http://www.cpan.org/ports/ directory. Because these are not part of +L<http://www.cpan.org/ports/> directory. Because these are not part of the standard distribution, they may and in fact do differ from the base perl port in a variety of ways. You'll have to check their respective release notes to see just what the differences are. These @@ -29,47 +29,22 @@ of the particular platform that are not supported in the source release of perl) or negative (e.g. might be based upon a less current source release of perl). -=head2 How can I get a binary version of perl? +=head2 How can I get a binary version of Perl? -(contributed by brian d foy) - -ActiveState: Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, Solaris, AIX and HP-UX - - http://www.activestate.com/ - -Sunfreeware.com: Solaris 2.5 to Solaris 10 (SPARC and x86) - - http://www.sunfreeware.com/ - -Strawberry Perl: Windows, Perl 5.8.8 and 5.10.0 - - http://www.strawberryperl.com - -IndigoPerl: Windows - - http://indigostar.com/ +See L<CPAN Ports|http://www.cpan.org/ports/> =head2 I don't have a C compiler. How can I build my own Perl interpreter? -Since you don't have a C compiler, you're doomed and your vendor -should be sacrificed to the Sun gods. But that doesn't help you. - -What you need to do is get a binary version of C<gcc> for your system -first. Consult the Usenet FAQs for your operating system for -information on where to get such a binary version. - -You might look around the net for a pre-built binary of Perl (or a -C compiler!) that meets your needs, though: - -For Windows, Vanilla Perl ( http://vanillaperl.com/ ) and Strawberry Perl -( http://strawberryperl.com/ ) come with a -bundled C compiler. ActivePerl is a pre-compiled version of Perl -ready-to-use. +For Windows, use a binary version of Perl, +L<Strawberry Perl|http://strawberryperl.com/> and +L<ActivePerl|http://www.activestate.com/activeperl> come with a +bundled C compiler. -For Sun systems, SunFreeware.com provides binaries of most popular -applications, including compilers and Perl. +Otherwise if you really do want to build Perl, you need to get a +binary version of C<gcc> for your system first. Use a search +engine to find out how to do this for your operating system. -=head2 I copied the perl binary from one machine to another, but scripts don't work. +=head2 I copied the Perl binary from one machine to another, but scripts don't work. That's probably because you forgot libraries, or library paths differ. You really should build the whole distribution on the machine it will @@ -98,209 +73,134 @@ It describes in detail how to cope with most idiosyncrasies that the C<Configure> script can't work around for any given system or architecture. -=head2 What modules and extensions are available for Perl? What is CPAN? What does CPAN/src/... mean? +=head2 What modules and extensions are available for Perl? What is CPAN? CPAN stands for Comprehensive Perl Archive Network, a multi-gigabyte archive replicated on hundreds of machines all over the world. CPAN -contains source code, non-native ports, documentation, scripts, and -many third-party modules and extensions, designed for everything from -commercial database interfaces to keyboard/screen control to web -walking and CGI scripts. The master web site for CPAN is -http://www.cpan.org/ and there is the CPAN Multiplexer at -http://www.cpan.org/CPAN.html which will choose a mirror near you via -DNS. See http://www.perl.com/CPAN (without a slash at the end) for -how this process works. Also, http://mirror.cpan.org/ has a nice -interface to the http://www.cpan.org/MIRRORED.BY mirror directory. - -See the CPAN FAQ at http://www.cpan.org/misc/cpan-faq.html for answers -to the most frequently asked questions about CPAN including how to -become a mirror. - -C<CPAN/path/...> is a naming convention for files available on CPAN -sites. CPAN indicates the base directory of a CPAN mirror, and the -rest of the path is the path from that directory to the file. For -instance, if you're using ftp://ftp.funet.fi/pub/languages/perl/CPAN -as your CPAN site, the file C<CPAN/misc/japh> is downloadable as -ftp://ftp.funet.fi/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/misc/japh . - -Considering that, as of 2006, there are over ten thousand existing -modules in the archive, one probably exists to do nearly anything you -can think of. Current categories under C<CPAN/modules/by-category/> -include Perl core modules; development support; operating system -interfaces; networking, devices, and interprocess communication; data -type utilities; database interfaces; user interfaces; interfaces to -other languages; filenames, file systems, and file locking; -internationalization and locale; world wide web support; server and -daemon utilities; archiving and compression; image manipulation; mail -and news; control flow utilities; filehandle and I/O; Microsoft -Windows modules; and miscellaneous modules. - -See http://www.cpan.org/modules/00modlist.long.html or -http://search.cpan.org/ for a more complete list of modules by -category. - -CPAN is a free service and is not affiliated with O'Reilly Media. - -=head2 Is there an ISO or ANSI certified version of Perl? - -Certainly not. Larry expects that he'll be certified before Perl is. +contains tens of thousands of modules and extensions, source code +and documentation, designed for I<everything> from commercial +database interfaces to keyboard/screen control and running large web sites. + +You can search CPAN on L<http://metacpan.org> or +L<http://search.cpan.org/>. + +The master web site for CPAN is L<http://www.cpan.org/>, +L<http://www.cpan.org/SITES.html> lists all mirrors. + +See the CPAN FAQ at L<http://www.cpan.org/misc/cpan-faq.html> for answers +to the most frequently asked questions about CPAN. + +The L<Task::Kensho> module has a list of recommended modules which +you should review as a good starting point. =head2 Where can I get information on Perl? +=over 4 + +=item * L<http://www.perl.org/> + +=item * L<http://perldoc.perl.org/> + +=item * L<http://learn.perl.org/> + +=back + The complete Perl documentation is available with the Perl distribution. If you have Perl installed locally, you probably have the documentation -installed as well: type C<man perl> if you're on a system resembling Unix. -This will lead you to other important man pages, including how to set your -C<$MANPATH>. If you're not on a Unix system, access to the documentation -will be different; for example, documentation might only be in HTML format. All -proper perl installations have fully-accessible documentation. - -You might also try C<perldoc perl> in case your system doesn't -have a proper C<man> command, or it's been misinstalled. If that doesn't -work, try looking in C</usr/local/lib/perl5/pod> for documentation. +installed as well: type C<perldoc perl> in a terminal or +L<view online|http://perldoc.perl.org/perl.html>. -If all else fails, consult http://perldoc.perl.org/ which has the -complete documentation in HTML and PDF format. +(Some operating system distributions may ship the documentation in a different +package; for instance, on Debian, you need to install the C<perl-doc> package.) Many good books have been written about Perl--see the section later in L<perlfaq2> for more details. -Tutorial documents included in current or upcoming Perl releases -include L<perltoot> for objects or L<perlboot> for a beginner's -approach to objects, L<perlopentut> for file opening semantics, -L<perlreftut> for managing references, L<perlretut> for regular -expressions, L<perlthrtut> for threads, L<perldebtut> for debugging, -and L<perlxstut> for linking C and Perl together. There may be more -by the time you read this. These URLs might also be useful: - - http://perldoc.perl.org/ - http://bookmarks.cpan.org/search.cgi?cat=Training%2FTutorials - -=head2 What are the Perl newsgroups on Usenet? Where do I post questions? - -Several groups devoted to the Perl language are on Usenet: - - comp.lang.perl.announce Moderated announcement group - comp.lang.perl.misc High traffic general Perl discussion - comp.lang.perl.moderated Moderated discussion group - comp.lang.perl.modules Use and development of Perl modules - comp.lang.perl.tk Using Tk (and X) from Perl - -Some years ago, comp.lang.perl was divided into those groups, and -comp.lang.perl itself officially removed. While that group may still -be found on some news servers, it is unwise to use it, because -postings there will not appear on news servers which honour the -official list of group names. Use comp.lang.perl.misc for topics -which do not have a more-appropriate specific group. - -There is also a Usenet gateway to Perl mailing lists sponsored by -perl.org at nntp://nntp.perl.org , a web interface to the same lists -at http://nntp.perl.org/group/ and these lists are also available -under the C<perl.*> hierarchy at http://groups.google.com . Other -groups are listed at http://lists.perl.org/ ( also known as -http://lists.cpan.org/ ). - -A nice place to ask questions is the PerlMonks site, -http://www.perlmonks.org/ , or the Perl Beginners mailing list -http://lists.perl.org/showlist.cgi?name=beginners . - -Note that none of the above are supposed to write your code for you: -asking questions about particular problems or general advice is fine, -but asking someone to write your code for free is not very cool. - -=head2 Where should I post source code? - -You should post source code to whichever group is most appropriate, but -feel free to cross-post to comp.lang.perl.misc. If you want to cross-post -to alt.sources, please make sure it follows their posting standards, -including setting the Followup-To header line to NOT include alt.sources; -see their FAQ ( http://www.faqs.org/faqs/alt-sources-intro/ ) for details. - -If you're just looking for software, first use Google -( http://www.google.com ), Google's Usenet search interface -( http://groups.google.com ), and CPAN Search ( http://search.cpan.org ). -This is faster and more productive than just posting a request. +=head2 What is perl.com? Perl Mongers? pm.org? perl.org? cpan.org? -=head2 Perl Books +L<Perl.com|http://www.perl.com/> used to be part of the O'Reilly +Network, a subsidiary of O'Reilly Media. Although it retains most of +the original content from its O'Reilly Network, it is now hosted by +L<The Perl Foundation|http://www.perlfoundation.org/>. + +The Perl Foundation is an advocacy organization for the Perl language +which maintains the web site L<http://www.perl.org/> as a general +advocacy site for the Perl language. It uses the domain to provide +general support services to the Perl community, including the hosting +of mailing lists, web sites, and other services. There are also many +other sub-domains for special topics like learning Perl and jobs in Perl, +such as: -There are many good books on Perl. See the L<perlbook> documentation or -( http://books.perl.org ). +=over 4 -=head2 Which magazines have Perl content? +=item * L<http://www.perl.org/> -I<The Perl Review> ( http://www.theperlreview.com ) focuses on Perl -almost completely (although it sometimes sneaks in an article about -another language). There's also I<$foo Magazin>, a German magazine -dedicated to Perl, at ( http://www.foo-magazin.de ). - -The I<Perl-Zeitung> is a German-speaking magazine for Perl beginners -(see http://perl-zeitung.at.tf ). - -Magazines that frequently carry quality articles on Perl include I<The -Perl Review> ( http://www.theperlreview.com ), I<Unix Review> ( -http://www.unixreview.com/ ), I<Linux Magazine> ( -http://www.linuxmagazine.com/ ), and Usenix's newsletter/magazine to -its members, I<login:> ( http://www.usenix.org/ ). - -The Perl columns of Randal L. Schwartz are available on the web at -http://www.stonehenge.com/merlyn/WebTechniques/ , -http://www.stonehenge.com/merlyn/UnixReview/ , and -http://www.stonehenge.com/merlyn/LinuxMag/ . - -The first (and for a long time, only) periodical devoted to All Things -Perl, I<The Perl Journal> contains tutorials, demonstrations, case -studies, announcements, contests, and much more. I<TPJ> has columns -on web development, databases, Win32 Perl, graphical programming, -regular expressions, and networking, and sponsors the Obfuscated Perl -Contest and the Perl Poetry Contests. Beginning in November 2002, I<TPJ> -moved to a reader-supported monthly e-zine format in which subscribers -can download issues as PDF documents. In 2006, I<TPJ> merged with Dr. -Dobbs Journal (online edition). To read old I<TPJ> articles, see -http://www.ddj.com/ or brian d foy's index of online TPJ content -( http://www.perlmonks.org/index.pl?node_id=711609 ). +=item * L<http://learn.perl.org/> -=head2 What mailing lists are there for Perl? +=item * L<http://jobs.perl.org/> -Most of the major modules (C<Tk>, C<CGI>, C<libwww-perl>) have their own -mailing lists. Consult the documentation that came with the module for -subscription information. +=item * L<http://lists.perl.org/> -A comprehensive list of Perl-related mailing lists can be found at: +=back - http://lists.perl.org/ +L<Perl Mongers|http://www.pm.org/> uses the pm.org domain for services +related to local Perl user groups, including the hosting of mailing lists +and web sites. See the L<Perl Mongers web site|http://www.pm.org/> for more +information about joining, starting, or requesting services for a +Perl user group. -=head2 Where are the archives for comp.lang.perl.misc? +CPAN, or the Comprehensive Perl Archive Network L<http://www.cpan.org/>, +is a replicated, worldwide repository of Perl software. +See L<What is CPAN?|/"What modules and extensions are available for Perl? What is CPAN? What does CPANE<sol>srcE<sol>... mean?">. -The Google search engine now carries archived and searchable newsgroup -content. +=head2 Where can I post questions? -http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.perl.misc/topics +There are many Perl L<mailing lists|lists.perl.org> for various +topics, specifically the L<beginners list|http://lists.perl.org/list/beginners.html> +may be of use. -If you have a question, you can be sure someone has already asked the -same question at some point on c.l.p.m. It requires some time and patience -to sift through all the content but often you will find the answer you -seek. +Other places to ask questions are on the +L<PerlMonks site|http://www.perlmonks.org/> or +L<stackoverflow|http://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/perl>. -=head2 Where can I buy a commercial version of perl? +=head2 Perl Books + +There are many good L<books on Perl|http://www.perl.org/books/library.html>. + +=head2 Which magazines have Perl content? + +There's also I<$foo Magazin>, a German magazine dedicated to Perl, at +( L<http://www.foo-magazin.de> ). The I<Perl-Zeitung> is another +German-speaking magazine for Perl beginners (see +L<http://perl-zeitung.at.tf> ). + +Several unix/linux releated magazines frequently includes articles on Perl. + +=head2 Which Perl blogs should I read? + +L<Perl News|http://perlnews.org/> covers some of the major events in the Perl +world, L<Perl Weekly|http://perlweekly.com/> is a weekly e-mail +(and RSS feed) of hand-picked Perl articles. + +L<http://blogs.perl.org/> hosts many Perl blogs, there are also +several blog aggregators: L<Perlsphere|http://perlsphere.net/> and +L<IronMan|http://ironman.enlightenedperl.org/> are two of them. + +=head2 What mailing lists are there for Perl? -In a real sense, perl already I<is> commercial software: it has a license +A comprehensive list of Perl-related mailing lists can be found at +L<http://lists.perl.org/> + +=head2 Where can I buy a commercial version of Perl? + +Perl already I<is> commercial software: it has a license that you can grab and carefully read to your manager. It is distributed in releases and comes in well-defined packages. There is a very large -user community and an extensive literature. The comp.lang.perl.* -newsgroups and several of the mailing lists provide free answers to your -questions in near real-time. Perl has traditionally been supported by -Larry, scores of software designers and developers, and myriad -programmers, all working for free to create a useful thing to make life -better for everyone. - -However, these answers may not suffice for managers who require a -purchase order from a company whom they can sue should anything go awry. -Or maybe they need very serious hand-holding and contractual obligations. -Shrink-wrapped CDs with perl on them are available from several sources if -that will help. For example, many Perl books include a distribution of perl, -as do the O'Reilly Perl Resource Kits (in both the Unix flavor -and in the proprietary Microsoft flavor); the free Unix distributions -also all come with perl. +and supportive user community and an extensive literature. + +If you still need commercial support +L<ActiveState|http://www.activestate.com/activeperl> offers +this. =head2 Where do I send bug reports? @@ -316,52 +216,21 @@ information about your installation to include with your message, then sends the message to the right place. To determine if a module came with your version of Perl, you can -use the C<Module::CoreList> module. It has the information about -the modules (with their versions) included with each release of Perl. - -If C<Module::CoreList> is not installed on your system, check out -http://perlpunks.de/corelist . +install and use the L<Module::CoreList> module. It has the information +about the modules (with their versions) included with each release +of Perl. -Every CPAN module has a bug tracker set up in RT, http://rt.cpan.org . +Every CPAN module has a bug tracker set up in RT, L<http://rt.cpan.org>. You can submit bugs to RT either through its web interface or by email. To email a bug report, send it to bug-E<lt>distribution-nameE<gt>@rt.cpan.org . For example, if you -wanted to report a bug in C<Business::ISBN>, you could send a message to +wanted to report a bug in L<Business::ISBN>, you could send a message to bug-Business-ISBN@rt.cpan.org . Some modules might have special reporting requirements, such as a -Sourceforge or Google Code tracking system, so you should check the +Github or Google Code tracking system, so you should check the module documentation too. -=head2 What is perl.com? Perl Mongers? pm.org? perl.org? cpan.org? - -Perl.com ( http://www.perl.com/ ) used to be part of the O'Reilly -Network, a subsidiary of O'Reilly Media. Although it retains most of -the original content from its O'Reilly Network, it is now hosted by -The Perl Foundation. - -The Perl Foundation is an advocacy organization for the Perl language -which maintains the web site ( http://www.perl.org/ ) as a general -advocacy site for the Perl language. It uses the domain to provide -general support services to the Perl community, including the hosting -of mailing lists, web sites, and other services. There are also many -other sub-domains for special topics like learning Perl, Perl news, -jobs in Perl, such as: - - http://www.perl.org/ - http://learn.perl.org/ - http://jobs.perl.org/ - http://lists.perl.org/ - -Perl Mongers uses the pm.org domain for services related to Perl user -groups, including the hosting of mailing lists and web sites. See the -Perl Mongers website ( http://www.pm.org/ ) for more information about -joining, starting, or requesting services for a Perl user group. - -CPAN, or the Comprehensive Perl Archive Network ( -http://www.cpan.org/ ), is a replicated, worldwide repository of Perl -software. See I<What is CPAN?> in L<perlfaq2>. - =head1 AUTHOR AND COPYRIGHT Copyright (c) 1997-2010 Tom Christiansen, Nathan Torkington, and |