Date: Tue, 3 Apr 2001 09:16:07 -0700 From: "Ted Mittelstaedt" <tedm@toybox.placo.com> To: "Tim Ayers" <tayers@bridge.com>, "FreeBSD Questions" <freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG> Subject: RE: Perl 5.003 / 5.6 / CPAN Message-ID: <001c01c0bc59$63b52120$1401a8c0@tedm.placo.com> In-Reply-To: <pueup0dm.fsf@tim.bridge.com>
next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
Well, then here's the latest one of these that I've had to screw with: Authen::Radius AKA RadiusPerl version 0.05 It builds ok but a "make install" doesn't actually copy the binary to anyplace that Perl can use, at least not under FreeBSD. Granted, this isn't a 5.6 problem, it's just an example of a module that's perhaps not "generally used" but it illustrates my point that these Perl modules often appear to become orphaned. It's been a while since the last time I had problems with the 5.0<->5.6 upgrade and if I recall properly my problems were in dealing with some SSL Perl modules. I don't have the names handy, though. Ted Mittelstaedt tedm@toybox.placo.com Author of: The FreeBSD Corporate Networker's Guide Book website: http://www.freebsd-corp-net-guide.com >-----Original Message----- >From: owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG >[mailto:owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG]On Behalf Of Tim Ayers >Sent: Tuesday, April 03, 2001 6:41 AM >To: FreeBSD Questions >Subject: Re: Perl 5.003 / 5.6 / CPAN > > >>>>>> "T" == Ted Mittelstaedt <tedm@toybox.placo.com> writes: >T> you DON'T want to install Perl 5.6 if you can help it. > >T> While it's going to run all Perl scripts, the big problems are the >T> user-written modules that are up on CPAN. Many are broken and have >T> half-assed attempts to "error check" and make sure that they are >T> running on the correct version of Perl - they look for strings like >T> "5.0XX" and such, and when they see 5.6 they complain that the Perl >T> version is too old, or worse don't run. > >I've had no problems with Perl 5.6.0 and I have not run across a >module that doesn't install in 5.6 because of bad version checks. If >your fears are true, then we are in a bunch of trouble when we all >upgrade to FreeBSD 4.3, which I believe is going to contain Perl >5.6. I think there are many more modules requiring 5.6 than are broken >by 5.6. Perl 5.6 is more than 2 years newer than 5.005* and contains a >lot of fixes and changes. > >Also the original author started down this path because of >Bundle::CPAN, which legitimately (and correctly!) requires Perl 5.6. > >T> The problem I think is that the Perl authors figure that the >T> CPAN module authors will error check their modules against >T> every new version of Perl that comes out. > >I don't think that is a problem. It seems like a reasonable assumption >by the Perl authors. Who else should test it? > >T> Unfortunately, my experience is that the majority of CPAN module >T> authors don't appear to give a damn about this. > >Hmm. Don't give a damn? More likely they don't have access to a >variety of Perl versions and platforms. I agree that many of the less >commonly used modules don't undergo rigorous testing, but it is free >after all. > >T> or they lose interest in supporting their modules. > >This is possibly true, but I think it's pretty rare for a module to >break because of a newer version of Perl. If someone runs across a >problem with a module they should email the author. If they get no >response, they should post to this list or comp.lang.perl.modules or >some other obvious place and I'm sure someone will help out. If I see >messages of this type, I'll be happy to help. > >Back to Hervey's questions: > >>>>>> "H" == "Hervey Wilson" <herveyw@dynamic-cast.com> writes: >H> - Has anyone successfully installed the ports collection version >H> of Perl (5.6) ? > >I don't think you can install Perl 5.6 from the ports. My ports tree >is recently cvsup'ed (like 5 minutes ago) and trying to make >/usr/ports/lang/perl5 says > ===> perl-5.005 is forbidden: perl is in system. > >I _have_ installed Perl 5.6 from source on FreeBSD 4.1.1 and 4.2. > >H> If so, can you provide any hints / tips to avoid problems ? > >See >http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/getmsg.cgi?fetch=984468+988853+/usr/loca l/www/db/text/2001/freebsd-questions/20010318.freebsd-questions for my explanation of installing Perl by hand. H> If I do a "make world" will the 5.6 version get trashed ? You probably want to add NOPERL= true to /etc/make.conf so that make world does not clobber your new Perl. HTH and Hope you have a very nice day, :-) Tim Ayers (tayers@bridge.com) To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message
Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?001c01c0bc59$63b52120$1401a8c0>