[inseparable changes from match from perl-5.003_93 to perl-5.003_94]

 BUILD PROCESS

Subject: Don't use db 2.x, we're not yet ready for it
From: Paul Marquess <pmarquess@bfsec.bt.co.uk>
Files: Configure

Subject: Warn if #! command is longer than 32 chars
From: Chip Salzenberg <chip@perl.com>
Files: Configure

Subject: patches re perl -wc install{perl,man}
Date: Tue, 11 Mar 97 13:13:16 GMT
From: Robin Barker <rmb1@cise.npl.co.uk>
Files: installman installperl

    I got the new installhtml from CPAN
    (TOMC/scripts/pod2html-v2.0beta.shar.gz)
    
    I had problems getting the system call to splitpod at line 376 to work.
    
    1. splitroot was not being found
    2. splitroot was not finding its library
    3. I changed htmlroot to podroot at line 175 to match the documentation.
    
    p5p-msgid: 3180.9703270906@tempest.cise.npl.co.uk
    private-msgid: 21544.9703111313@tempest.cise.npl.co.uk

Subject: 3_93 doesn't install pods
Date: Sun, 16 Mar 1997 02:21:35 -0500
From: Spider Boardman <spider@orb.nashua.nh.us>
Files: installperl
Msg-ID: 199703160721.CAA08339@Orb.Nashua.NH.US

    (applied based on p5p patch as commit 43506a616735d616e03d277d64fbae1e864024bf)

Subject: When installing, use File::Copy instead of `cp`
From: Chip Salzenberg <chip@perl.com>
Files: installperl

Subject: Make hint files' warnings more visible
Date: Thu, 20 Mar 1997 23:18:03 +0100 (MET)
From: Hallvard B Furuseth <h.b.furuseth@usit.uio.no>
Files: hints/3b1.sh hints/apollo.sh hints/cxux.sh hints/dcosx.sh hints/dgux.sh hints/esix4.sh hints/freebsd.sh hints/hpux.sh hints/irix_4.sh hints/mips.sh hints/next_3_0.sh hints/os2.sh hints/qnx.sh hints/sco_2_3_3.sh hints/sco_2_3_4.sh hints/solaris_2.sh hints/ultrix_4.sh hints/utekv.sh

    private-msgid: 199703202218.XAA09041@bombur2.uio.no

 CORE LANGUAGE CHANGES

Subject: Defer creation of array and hash elements as parameters
From: Chip Salzenberg <chip@perl.com>
Files: dump.c global.sym mg.c op.c op.h perl.h pp.c pp_hot.c proto.h sv.c

Subject: New special literal: __PACKAGE__
From: Chip Salzenberg <chip@perl.com>
Files: keywords.pl pod/perldata.pod toke.c

Subject: Abort compilation at C<BEGIN{}> or C<use> after errors
From: Chip Salzenberg <chip@perl.com>
Files: op.c pod/perldiag.pod t/pragma/subs.t

Subject: allow C<substr 'hello', -10>
Date: Mon, 10 Mar 1997 15:55:44 -0800
From: David Dyck <dcd@tc.fluke.com>
Files: pp.c
Msg-ID: 97Mar10.155517pst.35716-2@gateway.fluke.com

    (applied based on p5p patch as commit 77f720bf92f3d0100352416caeedd57936807ff2)

Subject: Regularize C<x % y>, esp. when y is negative
From: Chip Salzenberg <chip@perl.com>
Files: pp.c

Subject: Flush before C<flock(FOO, LOCK_UN)>
From: Chip Salzenberg <chip@perl.com>
Files: pod/perldelta.pod pod/perlfunc.pod pp_sys.c

Subject: Close loopholes in prototype mismatch warning
From: Chip Salzenberg <chip@perl.com>
Files: op.c sv.c toke.c

Subject: Warn on C<while ($x = each %y) {}>
From: Chip Salzenberg <chip@perl.com>
Files: op.c pod/perldiag.pod

Subject: Don't warn on C<print $fh func()>
From: Chip Salzenberg <chip@perl.com>
Files: toke.c

 CORE PORTABILITY

Subject: Don't say 'static var = 1'
Date: Sun, 9 Mar 1997 15:19:57 +0200 (EET)
From: Jarkko Hietaniemi <jhi@iki.fi>
Files: malloc.c

    private-msgid: 199703091319.PAA24714@alpha.hut.fi

Subject: HP/UX hint comments
Date: Fri, 21 Mar 1997 15:43:07 -0500 (EST)
From: Andy Dougherty <doughera@fractal.phys.lafayette.edu>
Files: hints/hpux.sh

    private-msgid: Pine.SOL.3.95q.970321153918.28770B-100000@fractal.lafayette.

Subject: VMS update
Date: Tue, 11 Mar 1997 22:00:55 -0500 (EST)
From: Charles Bailey <bailey@hmivax.humgen.upenn.edu>
Files: lib/ExtUtils/MM_VMS.pm lib/Test/Harness.pm t/op/taint.t utils/perlbug.PL vms/descrip.mms
Msg-ID: 1997Mar11.220056.1873182@hmivax.humgen.upenn.edu

    (applied based on p5p patch as commit 2b5725676da60b49978f38b85bb7f8ee20b4cb55)

Subject: vmsish.t and related patches
Date: Fri, 21 Mar 1997 01:32:47 -0500 (EST)
From: Charles Bailey <bailey@HMIVAX.HUMGEN.UPENN.EDU>
Files: MANIFEST perl.h vms/descrip.mms vms/ext/vmsish.t vms/vms.c

    private-msgid: 01IGQW3IP1KK005VFB@hmivax.humgen.upenn.edu

Subject: Win32 update (four patches)
From: Gurusamy Sarathy <gsar@engin.umich.edu>
Files: MANIFEST README.win32 lib/AutoSplit.pm lib/Cwd.pm lib/ExtUtils/Command.pm lib/ExtUtils/Install.pm lib/ExtUtils/MM_OS2.pm lib/ExtUtils/MM_Unix.pm lib/ExtUtils/MM_Win32.pm lib/ExtUtils/MakeMaker.pm lib/ExtUtils/Mksymlists.pm lib/File/Basename.pm lib/File/Path.pm mg.c t/comp/cpp.t t/comp/script.t t/harness t/io/argv.t t/io/dup.t t/io/fs.t t/io/inplace.t t/lib/filehand.t t/lib/io_dup.t t/lib/io_sel.t t/lib/io_taint.t t/op/closure.t t/op/exec.t t/op/glob.t t/op/goto.t t/op/magic.t t/op/misc.t t/op/rand.t t/op/split.t t/op/stat.t t/op/sysio.t t/op/taint.t t/pragma/strict.t t/pragma/subs.t t/pragma/warning.t util.c win32/*

 DOCUMENTATION

Subject: perlfaq.pod
Date: Mon, 17 Mar 1997 16:01:40 -0700
From: Tom Christiansen <tchrist@jhereg.perl.com>
Files: MANIFEST pod/Makefile pod/buildtoc pod/perl.pod pod/perlfaq*.pod pod/roffitall

    private-msgid: 199703172301.QAA12566@jhereg.perl.com

Subject: *.pod changes based on the FAQ
Date: Mon, 17 Mar 1997 09:50:14 -0700 (MST)
From: Nat Torkington <gnat@frii.com>
Files: pod/perldata.pod pod/perlfunc.pod pod/perlipc.pod pod/perlop.pod pod/perlre.pod pod/perlrun.pod pod/perlsec.pod pod/perlvar.pod
Msg-ID: 199703171650.JAA02655@elara.frii.com

    (applied based on p5p patch as commit 3c10ad8e31f7d77e71c048b1746912f41cb540f0)

Subject: Document that $. is not reset on implicit open
From: Chip Salzenberg <chip@perl.com>
Files: pod/perldelta.pod

Subject: Re: Embedding success with _93 
Date: Tue, 11 Mar 1997 17:55:05 -0500
From: Doug MacEachern <dougm@opengroup.org>
Files: pod/perldelta.pod
Msg-ID: 199703112255.RAA22775@postman.osf.org

    (applied based on p5p patch as commit 63a6ff3a1dc8d86edb4d8a7ec1548205e32a7114)

Subject: Patch to document illegal characters
Date: Fri, 14 Mar 1997 09:08:10 -0800 (PST)
From: Tom Phoenix <rootbeer@teleport.com>
Files: pod/perldiag.pod pod/perltrap.pod

    private-msgid: Pine.GSO.3.96.970314090558.15346J-100000@kelly.teleport.com

Subject: Document trap with //o and closures
Date: Mon, 10 Mar 1997 18:08:08 -0500 (EST)
From: Charles Bailey <bailey@HMIVAX.HUMGEN.UPENN.EDU>
Files: pod/perltrap.pod
Msg-ID: 01IGCHWRNSEU00661G@hmivax.humgen.upenn.edu

    (applied based on p5p patch as commit a54cb1465fdb400848f23705a6f130bb5c34ab70)

Subject: Illegal character in input
Date: Mon, 10 Mar 1997 15:21:21 -0800 (PST)
From: Tom Phoenix <rootbeer@teleport.com>
Files: pod/perldiag.pod

    private-msgid: Pine.GSO.3.95q.970310151512.22489a-100000@kelly.teleport.com

Subject: Patch for docs Re: Lost backslash
Date: Wed, 19 Mar 1997 07:28:57 -0800 (PST)
From: Tom Phoenix <rootbeer@teleport.com>
Files: pod/perlop.pod

    private-msgid: Pine.GSO.3.96.970319071438.24834G-100000@kelly.teleport.com

Subject: XSUB's doc fix
Date: Mon, 10 Mar 1997 11:42:06 -0500
From: Roderick Schertler <roderick@argon.org>
Files: pod/perlcall.pod pod/perlguts.pod pod/perlxstut.pod
Msg-ID: 28804.858012126@eeyore.ibcinc.com

    (applied based on p5p patch as commit 5f43237038ea7a4151d3bf65aeeecd56ceb78a6a)

Subject: Document return from do FILE
Date: Tue, 18 Mar 1997 14:50:10 +0000
From: "M.J.T. Guy" <mjtg@cus.cam.ac.uk>
Files: pod/perlfunc.pod
Msg-ID: E0w70DK-0001yJ-00@ursa.cus.cam.ac.uk

    (applied based on p5p patch as commit ba8d5fb439878113de8abc9b52d2af237d30fb3c)

Subject: Document $^M in perlvar
Date: Thu, 20 Mar 97 21:08:33 GMT
From: Robin Barker <rmb1@cise.npl.co.uk>
Files: pod/perlvar.pod

    private-msgid: 6153.9703202108@tempest.cise.npl.co.uk

Subject: typos in pods of 5.003_93
Date: 19 Mar 1997 10:39:38 -0600
From: Jim Meyering <meyering@asic.sc.ti.com>
Files: pod/perlfunc.pod pod/perlguts.pod pod/perlre.pod pod/perltoot.pod pod/perlxs.pod
Msg-ID: wpgendbzvhx.fsf@asic.sc.ti.com

    (applied based on p5p patch as commit 76a9873e006cf8f48f57062b2a0dd40b5ed45a95)

Subject: Re: Updates to pod punctuations
Date: Fri, 14 Mar 1997 17:00:12 -0500
From: Larry W. Virden <lvirden@cas.org>
Files: pod/*.pod

    private-msgid: 9703141700.AA22911@cas.org

Subject: clarify example in perlfunc
Date: Thu, 20 Mar 1997 19:46:01 +0200 (EET)
From: Jarkko Hietaniemi <jhi@iki.fi>
Files: pod/perlfunc.pod

    private-msgid: 199703201746.TAA25195@alpha.hut.fi

Subject: Regularize headings in DB_File documentation
From: Chip Salzenberg <chip@perl.com>
Files: ext/DB_File/DB_File.pm

 LIBRARY AND EXTENSIONS

Subject: New module: autouse.pm
Date: Thu, 20 Mar 1997 19:34:30 -0500 (EST)
From: Ilya Zakharevich <ilya@math.ohio-state.edu>
Files: MANIFEST lib/autouse.pm
Msg-ID: 199703210034.TAA13469@monk.mps.ohio-state.edu

    (applied based on p5p patch as commit 6757905eccb6dd0440ef65e8128a277a20f7d943)

Subject: Refresh DB_File to 1.12
Date: Wed, 12 Mar 97 15:51:14 GMT
From: Paul Marquess <pmarquess@bfsec.bt.co.uk>
Files: ext/DB_File/DB_File.pm ext/DB_File/DB_File.xs
Msg-ID: 9703121551.AA07435@claudius.bfsec.bt.co.uk

    (applied based on p5p patch as commit b3deed9189f963e9994815307931f9084f60d1d9)

Subject: In File::Path, some systems can't remove read-only files
From: Chip Salzenberg <chip@perl.com>
Files: lib/File/Path.pm

Subject: Fix bugs revealed by prototype warnings
From: Chip Salzenberg <chip@perl.com>
Files: ext/Opcode/Opcode.pm lib/ExtUtils/MakeMaker.pm lib/Getopt/Long.pm

Subject: Problems with SKIP in makemaker
Date: Thu, 20 Mar 1997 23:13:31 -0500 (EST)
From: Ilya Zakharevich <ilya@math.ohio-state.edu>
Files: lib/ExtUtils/MM_Unix.pm
Msg-ID: 199703210413.XAA21601@monk.mps.ohio-state.edu

    (applied based on p5p patch as commit 970322a2e8024294ada6e8d1a027cb98f1f48ee3)

Subject: In Exporter, don't C<require Carp> at file scope
From: Chip Salzenberg <chip@perl.com>
Files: lib/Exporter.pm

Subject: fix for Exporter's $SIG{__WARN__} handler
Date: Thu, 13 Mar 1997 18:40:51 -0500
From: Roderick Schertler <roderick@argon.org>
Files: lib/Exporter.pm
Msg-ID: 2282.858296451@eeyore.ibcinc.com

    (applied based on p5p patch as commit 2768ea1aeef34f42d096f198fbe629c8374ca429)

Subject: Don't try to substr() refs in Carp
From: Chip Salzenberg <chip@perl.com>
Files: lib/Carp.pm

Subject: Re: NUL in die and other messages
Date: Fri, 21 Mar 1997 09:58:17 +0000
From: "M.J.T. Guy" <mjtg@cus.cam.ac.uk>
Files: lib/Carp.pm
Msg-ID: E0w815V-0005xs-00@ursa.cus.cam.ac.uk

    (applied based on p5p patch as commit 52a267c574cb66c4bc35601dcf148a1d7a3bc557)

 OTHER CORE CHANGES

Subject: Guard against buffer overflow in yyerror() and related funcs
From: Chip Salzenberg <chip@perl.com>
Files: toke.c

Subject: For bin compat, rename calllist() and he_{,delay}free
From: Chip Salzenberg <chip@perl.com>
Files: global.sym hv.c op.c perl.c pod/perlguts.pod proto.h

Subject: Fix C<print> on tied default handle
From: Chip Salzenberg <chip@perl.com>
Files: pp_hot.c

Subject: Fix C<local($a, undef, $b) = (1,2,3)>
From: Chip Salzenberg <chip@perl.com>
Files: op.c

Subject: Improve diagnostic on C<@a++>, C<--%a>, @a =~ s/a/b/
From: Chip Salzenberg <chip@perl.com>
Files: pp.c pp_hot.c

Subject: Don't warn on C<$x{y} .= "z"> when %x is tied
From: Chip Salzenberg <chip@perl.com>
Files: pp_hot.c

Subject: Eliminate 'unreachable code' warnings
From: Chip Salzenberg <chip@perl.com>
Files: ext/POSIX/POSIX.xs mg.c pp_ctl.c toke.c

Subject: printf format corrections for -DDEBUGGING
Date: Wed, 19 Mar 1997 12:42:50 -0500
From: Roderick Schertler <roderick@argon.org>
Files: doop.c malloc.c op.c pp_ctl.c regexec.c sv.c x2p/str.c x2p/util.c
Msg-ID: 26592.858793370@eeyore.ibcinc.com

    (applied based on p5p patch as commit e125f273e351a19a92b69d6244af55abbbf0a26d)

Subject: Warn about missing -DMULTIPLICITY if likely a problem
Date: Wed, 19 Mar 1997 18:45:53 -0500
From: Doug MacEachern <dougm@opengroup.org>
Files: perl.c
Msg-ID: 199703192345.SAA15070@postman.osf.org

    (applied based on p5p patch as commit 71aeea1753924e6e19c2461e241e3f7d8a570e90)

1 files changed, 277 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/pod/perlfaq9.pod b/pod/perlfaq9.pod
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e62dac4bd3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pod/perlfaq9.pod
@@ -0,0 +1,277 @@
+=head1 NAME
+
+perlfaq9 - Networking ($Revision: 1.13 $)
+
+=head1 DESCRIPTION
+
+This section deals with questions related to networking, the internet,
+and a few on the web.
+
+=head2 My CGI script runs from the command line but not the browser.  Can you help me fix it?
+
+Sure, but you probably can't afford our contracting rates :-)
+
+Seriously, if you can demonstrate that you've read the following FAQs
+and that your problem isn't something simple that can be easily
+answered, you'll probably receive a courteous and useful reply to your
+question if you post it on comp.infosystems.www.authoring.cgi (if it's
+something to do with HTTP, HTML, or the CGI protocols).  Questions that
+appear to be Perl questions but are really CGI ones that are posted to
+comp.lang.perl.misc may not be so well received.
+
+The useful FAQs are:
+
+    http://www.perl.com/perl/faq/idiots-guide.html
+    http://www3.pair.com/webthing/docs/cgi/faqs/cgifaq.shtml
+    http://www.perl.com/perl/faq/perl-cgi-faq.html
+    http://www-genome.wi.mit.edu/WWW/faqs/www-security-faq.html
+    http://www.boutell.com/faq/
+
+=head2 How do I remove HTML from a string?
+
+The most correct way (albeit not the fastest) is to use HTML::Parse
+from CPAN (part of the libwww-perl distribution, which is a must-have
+module for all web hackers).
+
+Many folks attempt a simple-minded regular expression approach, like
+C<s/E<lt>.*?E<gt>//g>, but that fails in many cases because the tags
+may continue over line breaks, they may contain quoted angle-brackets,
+or HTML comment may be present.  Plus folks forget to convert
+entities, like C<&lt;> for example.
+
+Here's one "simple-minded" approach, that works for most files:
+
+    #!/usr/bin/perl -p0777
+    s/<(?:[^>'"]*|(['"]).*?\1)*>//gs
+
+If you want a more complete solution, see the 3-stage striphtml
+program in
+http://www.perl.com/CPAN/authors/Tom_Christiansen/scripts/striphtml.gz
+.
+
+=head2 How do I extract URLs?
+
+A quick but imperfect approach is 	
+
+    #!/usr/bin/perl -n00
+    # qxurl - tchrist@perl.com
+    print "$2\n" while m{
+	< \s*
+	  A \s+ HREF \s* = \s* (["']) (.*?) \1
+	\s* >
+    }gsix;
+
+This version does not adjust relative URLs, understand alternate
+bases, deal with HTML comments, or accept URLs themselves as
+arguments.  It also runs about 100x faster than a more "complete"
+solution using the LWP suite of modules, such as the
+http://www.perl.com/CPAN/authors/Tom_Christiansen/scripts/xurl.gz
+program.
+
+=head2 How do I download a file from the user's machine?  How do I open a file on another machine?
+
+In the context of an HTML form, you can use what's known as
+B<multipart/form-data> encoding.  The CGI.pm module (available from
+CPAN) supports this in the start_multipart_form() method, which isn't
+the same as the startform() method.
+
+=head2 How do I make a pop-up menu in HTML?
+
+Use the B<E<lt>SELECTE<gt>> and B<E<lt>OPTIONE<gt>> tags.  The CGI.pm
+module (available from CPAN) supports this widget, as well as many
+others, including some that it cleverly synthesizes on its own.
+
+=head2 How do I fetch an HTML file?
+
+Use the LWP::Simple module available from CPAN, part of the excellent
+libwww-perl (LWP) package.  On the other hand, and if you have the
+lynx text-based HTML browser installed on your system, this isn't too
+bad:
+
+    $html_code = `lynx -source $url`;
+    $text_data = `lynx -dump $url`;
+
+=head2 how do I decode or create those %-encodings on the web?
+
+Here's an example of decoding:
+
+    $string = "http://altavista.digital.com/cgi-bin/query?pg=q&what=news&fmt=.&q=%2Bcgi-bin+%2Bperl.exe";
+    $string =~ s/%([a-fA-F0-9]{2})/chr(hex($1))/ge;
+
+Encoding is a bit harder, because you can't just blindly change
+all the non-alphanumunder character (C<\W>) into their hex escapes.
+It's important that characters with special meaning like C</> and C<?>
+I<not> be translated.  Probably the easiest way to get this right is
+to avoid reinventing the wheel and just use the URI::Escape module,
+which is part of the libwww-perl package (LWP) available from CPAN.
+
+=head2 How do I redirect to another page?
+
+Instead of sending back a C<Content-Type> as the headers of your
+reply, send back a C<Location:> header.  Officially this should be a
+C<URI:> header, so the CGI.pm module (available from CPAN) sends back
+both:
+
+    Location: http://www.domain.com/newpage
+    URI: http://www.domain.com/newpage
+
+Note that relative URLs in these headers can cause strange effects
+because of "optimizations" that servers do.
+
+=head2 How do I put a password on my web pages?
+
+That depends.  You'll need to read the documentation for your web
+server, or perhaps check some of the other FAQs referenced above.
+
+=head2 How do I edit my .htpasswd and .htgroup files with Perl?
+
+The HTTPD::UserAdmin and HTTPD::GroupAdmin modules provide a
+consistent OO interface to these files, regardless of how they're
+stored.  Databases may be text, dbm, Berkley DB or any database with a
+DBI compatible driver.  HTTPD::UserAdmin supports files used by the
+`Basic' and `Digest' authentication schemes.  Here's an example:
+
+    use HTTPD::UserAdmin ();
+    HTTPD::UserAdmin
+	  ->new(DB => "/foo/.htpasswd")
+	  ->add($username => $password);
+
+=head2 How do I parse an email header?
+
+For a quick-and-dirty solution, try this solution derived
+from page 222 of the 2nd edition of "Programming Perl":
+
+    $/ = '';
+    $header = <MSG>;
+    $header =~ s/\n\s+/ /g;	 # merge continuation lines
+    %head = ( UNIX_FROM_LINE, split /^([-\w]+):\s*/m, $header );
+
+That solution doesn't do well if, for example, you're trying to
+maintain all the Received lines.  A more complete approach is to use
+the Mail::Header module from CPAN (part of the MailTools package).
+
+=head2 How do I decode a CGI form?
+
+A lot of people are tempted to code this up themselves, so you've
+probably all seen a lot of code involving C<$ENV{CONTENT_LENGTH}> and
+C<$ENV{QUERY_STRING}>.  It's true that this can work, but there are
+also a lot of versions of this floating around that are quite simply
+broken!
+
+Please do not be tempted to reinvent the wheel.  Instead, use the
+CGI.pm or CGI_Lite.pm (available from CPAN), or if you're trapped in
+the module-free land of perl1 .. perl4, you might look into cgi-lib.pl
+(available from http://www.bio.cam.ac.uk/web/form.html).
+
+=head2 How do I check a valid email address?
+
+You can't.
+
+Without sending mail to the address and seeing whether it bounces (and
+even then you face the halting problem), you cannot determine whether
+an email address is valid.  Even if you apply the email header
+standard, you can have problems, because there are deliverable
+addresses that aren't RFC-822 (the mail header standard) compliant,
+and addresses that aren't deliverable which are compliant.
+
+Many are tempted to try to eliminate many frequently-invalid email
+addresses with a simple regexp, such as
+C</^[\w.-]+\@([\w.-]\.)+\w+$/>.  However, this also throws out many
+valid ones, and says nothing about potential deliverability, so is not
+suggested.  Instead, see
+http://www.perl.com/CPAN/authors/Tom_Christiansen/scripts/ckaddr.gz ,
+which actually checks against the full RFC spec (except for nested
+comments), looks for addresses you may not wish to accept email to
+(say, Bill Clinton or your postmaster), and then makes sure that the
+hostname given can be looked up in DNS.  It's not fast, but it works.
+
+=head2 How do I decode a MIME/BASE64 string?
+
+The MIME-tools package (available from CPAN) handles this and a lot
+more.  Decoding BASE64 becomes as simple as:
+
+    use MIME::base64;
+    $decoded = decode_base64($encoded);
+
+A more direct approach is to use the unpack() function's "u"
+format after minor transliterations:
+
+    tr#A-Za-z0-9+/##cd;                   # remove non-base64 chars
+    tr#A-Za-z0-9+/# -_#;                  # convert to uuencoded format
+    $len = pack("c", 32 + 0.75*length);   # compute length byte
+    print unpack("u", $len . $_);         # uudecode and print
+
+=head2 How do I return the user's email address?
+
+On systems that support getpwuid, the $E<lt> variable and the
+Sys::Hostname module (which is part of the standard perl distribution),
+you can probably try using something like this:
+
+    use Sys::Hostname;
+    $address = sprintf('%s@%s', getpwuid($<), hostname);
+
+Company policies on email address can mean that this generates addresses
+that the company's email system will not accept, so you should ask for
+users' email addresses when this matters.  Furthermore, not all systems
+on which Perl runs are so forthcoming with this information as is Unix.
+
+The Mail::Util module from CPAN (part of the MailTools package) provides a
+mailaddress() function that tries to guess the mail address of the user.
+It makes a more intelligent guess than the code above, using information
+given when the module was installed, but it could still be incorrect.
+Again, the best way is often just to ask the user.
+
+=head2 How do I send/read mail?
+
+Sending mail: the Mail::Mailer module from CPAN (part of the MailTools
+package) is UNIX-centric, while Mail::Internet uses Net::SMTP which is
+not UNIX-centric.  Reading mail: use the Mail::Folder module from CPAN
+(part of the MailFolder package) or the Mail::Internet module from
+CPAN (also part of the MailTools package).
+
+=head2 How do I find out my hostname/domainname/IP address?
+
+A lot of code has historically cavalierly called the C<`hostname`>
+program.  While sometimes expedient, this isn't very portable.  It's
+one of those tradeoffs of convenience versus portability.
+
+The Sys::Hostname module (part of the standard perl distribution) will
+give you the hostname after which you can find out the IP address
+(assuming you have working DNS) with a gethostbyname() call.
+
+    use Socket;
+    use Sys::Hostname;
+    my $host = hostname();
+    my $addr = inet_ntoa(scalar(gethostbyname($name)) || 'localhost');
+
+Probably the simplest way to learn your DNS domain name is to grok
+it out of /etc/resolv.conf, at least under Unix.  Of course, this
+assumes several things about your resolv.conf configuration, including
+that it exists.
+
+(We still need a good DNS domain name-learning method for non-Unix
+systems.)
+
+=head2 How do I fetch a news article or the active newsgroups?
+
+Use the Net::NNTP or News::NNTPClient modules, both available from CPAN.
+This can make tasks like fetching the newsgroup list as simple as:
+
+    perl -MNews::NNTPClient
+      -e 'print News::NNTPClient->new->list("newsgroups")'
+
+=head2 How do I fetch/put an FTP file?
+
+LWP::Simple (available from CPAN) can fetch but not put.  Net::FTP (also
+available from CPAN) is more complex but can put as well as fetch.
+
+=head2 How can I do RPC in Perl?
+
+A DCE::RPC module is being developed (but is not yet available), and
+will be released as part of the DCE-Perl package (available from
+CPAN).  No ONC::RPC module is known.
+
+=head1 AUTHOR AND COPYRIGHT
+
+Copyright (c) 1997 Tom Christiansen and Nathan Torkington.
+All rights reserved.  See L<perlfaq> for distribution information.