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diff --git a/pod/perlfaq2.pod b/pod/perlfaq2.pod new file mode 100644 index 0000000000..8a954da64e --- /dev/null +++ b/pod/perlfaq2.pod @@ -0,0 +1,443 @@ +=head1 NAME + +perlfaq2 - Obtaining and Learning about Perl ($Revision: 1.16 $, $Date: 1997/04/23 18:04:09 $) + +=head1 DESCRIPTION + +This section of the FAQ answers questions about where to find +source and documentation for Perl, support and training, and +related matters. + +=head2 What machines support Perl? Where do I get it? + +The standard release of Perl (the one maintained by the perl +development team) is distributed only in source code form. You can +find this at http://www.perl.com/CPAN/src/latest.tar.gz, which is a +gzipped archive in POSIX tar format. This source builds with no +porting whatsoever on most Unix systems (Perl's native environment), +as well as Plan 9, VMS, QNX, OS/2, and the Amiga. + +Although it's rumored that the (imminent) 5.004 release may build +on Windows NT, this is yet to be proven. Binary distributions +for 32-bit Microsoft systems and for Apple systems can be found +http://www.perl.com/CPAN/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 differences +can be either positive (e.g. extensions for the features 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). + +A useful FAQ for Win32 Perl users is +http://www.endcontsw.com/people/evangelo/Perl_for_Win32_FAQ.html + +=head2 How can I get a binary version of Perl? + +If you don't have a C compiler because for whatever reasons your +vendor did not include one with your system, the best thing to do is +grab a binary version of gcc from the net and use that to compile perl +with. CPAN only has binaries for systems that are terribly hard to +get free compilers for, not for Unix systems. + +Your first stop should be http://www.perl.com/CPAN/ports to see what +information is already available. A simple installation guide for +MS-DOS is available at http://www.cs.ruu.nl/~piet/perl5dos.html , and +similarly for Windows 3.1 at http://www.cs.ruu.nl/~piet/perlwin3.html +. + +=head2 I don't have a C compiler on my system. How can I compile perl? + +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 gcc for your system +first. Consult the Usenet FAQs for your operating system for +information on where to get such a binary version. + +=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 +eventually live on, and then type C<make install>. Most other +approaches are doomed to failure. + +One simple way to check that things are in the right place is to print out +the hard-coded @INC which perl is looking for. + + perl -e 'print join("\n",@INC)' + +If this command lists any paths which don't exist on your system, then you +may need to move the appropriate libraries to these locations, or create +symlinks, aliases, or shortcuts appropriately. + +You might also want to check out L<perlfaq8/"How do I keep my own +module/library directory?">. + +=head2 I grabbed the sources and tried to compile but gdbm/dynamic loading/malloc/linking/... failed. How do I make it work? + +Read the F<INSTALL> file, which is part of the source distribution. +It describes in detail how to cope with most idiosyncracies that the +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? + +CPAN stands for Comprehensive Perl Archive Network, a huge archive +replicated on dozens 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 machine for CPAN is +ftp://ftp.funet.fi/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/, but you can use the +address http://www.perl.com/CPAN/CPAN.html to fetch a copy from a +"site near you". See http://www.perl.com/CPAN (without a slash at the +end) for how this process works. + +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 CPAN/misc/japh file is downloadable as +ftp://ftp.funet.fi/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/misc/japh . + +Considering that there are hundreds of existing modules in the +archive, one probably exists to do nearly anything you can think of. +Current categories under 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. + +=head2 Is there an ISO or ANSI certified version of Perl? + +Certainly not. Larry expects that he'll be certified before Perl is. + +=head2 Where can I get information on Perl? + +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. If you're not on a Unix system, access to the documentation +will be different; for example, it might be only in HTML format. But +all proper perl installations have fully-accessible documentation. + +You might also try C<perldoc perl> in case your system doesn't +have a proper man command, or it's been misinstalled. If that doesn't +work, try looking in /usr/local/lib/perl5/pod for documentation. + +If all else fails, consult the CPAN/doc directory, which contains the +complete documentation in various formats, including native pod, +troff, html, and plain text. There's also a web page at +http://www.perl.com/perl/info/documentation.html that might help. + +It's also worth noting that there's a PDF version of the complete +documentation for perl available in the CPAN/authors/id/BMIDD +directory. + +Many good books have been written about Perl -- see the section below +for more details. + +=head2 What are the Perl newsgroups on USENET? Where do I post questions? + +The now defunct comp.lang.perl newsgroup has been superseded by the +following groups: + + comp.lang.perl.announce Moderated announcement group + comp.lang.perl.misc Very busy group about Perl in general + comp.lang.perl.modules Use and development of Perl modules + comp.lang.perl.tk Using Tk (and X) from Perl + + comp.infosystems.www.authoring.cgi Writing CGI scripts for the Web. + +There is also USENET gateway to the mailing list used by the crack +Perl development team (perl5-porters) at +news://genetics.upenn.edu/perl.porters-gw/ . + +=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 for details. + +=head2 Perl Books + +A number books on Perl and/or CGI programming are available. A few of +these are good, some are ok, but many aren't worth your money. Tom +Christiansen maintains a list of these books, some with extensive +reviews, at http://www.perl.com/perl/critiques/index.html. + +The incontestably definitive reference book on Perl, written by the +creator of Perl and his apostles, is now in its second edition and +fourth printing. + + Programming Perl (the "Camel Book"): + Authors: Larry Wall, Tom Christiansen, and Randal Schwartz + ISBN 1-56592-149-6 (English) + ISBN 4-89052-384-7 (Japanese) + (French and German translations in progress) + +Note that O'Reilly books are color-coded: turquoise (some would call +it teal) covers indicate perl5 coverage, while magenta (some would +call it pink) covers indicate perl4 only. Check the cover color +before you buy! + +What follows is a list of the books that the FAQ authors found personally +useful. Your mileage may (but, we hope, probably won't) vary. + +If you're already a hard-core systems programmer, then the Camel Book +just might suffice for you to learn Perl from. But if you're not, +check out the "Llama Book". It currently doesn't cover perl5, but the +2nd edition is nearly done and should be out by summer 97: + + Learning Perl (the Llama Book): + Author: Randal Schwartz, with intro by Larry Wall + ISBN 1-56592-042-2 (English) + ISBN 4-89502-678-1 (Japanese) + ISBN 2-84177-005-2 (French) + ISBN 3-930673-08-8 (German) + +Another stand-out book in the turquoise O'Reilly Perl line is the "Hip +Owls" book. It covers regular expressions inside and out, with quite a +bit devoted exclusively to Perl: + + Mastering Regular Expressions (the Cute Owls Book): + Author: Jeffrey Friedl + ISBN 1-56592-257-3 + +You can order any of these books from O'Reilly & Associates, +1-800-998-9938. Local/overseas is 1-707-829-0515. If you can locate +an O'Reilly order form, you can also fax to 1-707-829-0104. See +http://www.ora.com/ on the Web. + +Recommended Perl books that are not from O'Reilly are the following: + + Cross-Platform Perl, (for Unix and Windows NT) + Author: Eric F. Johnson + ISBN: 1-55851-483-X + + How to Set up and Maintain a World Wide Web Site, (2nd edition) + Author: Lincoln Stein, M.D., Ph.D. + ISBN: 0-201-63462-7 + + CGI Programming in C & Perl, + Author: Thomas Boutell + ISBN: 0-201-42219-0 + +Note that some of these address specific application areas (e.g. the +Web) and are not general-purpose programming books. + +=head2 Perl in Magazines + +The Perl Journal is the first and only magazine dedicated to Perl. +It is published (on paper, not online) quarterly by Jon Orwant +(orwant@tpj.com), editor. Subscription information is at http://tpj.com +or via email to subscriptions@tpj.com. + +Beyond this, two other magazines that frequently carry high-quality +articles on Perl are Web Techniques (see +http://www.webtechniques.com/) and Unix Review +(http://www.unixreview.com/). Randal Schwartz's Web Technique's +columns are available on the web at +http://www.stonehenge.com/merlyn/WebTechniques/ . + +=head2 Perl on the Net: FTP and WWW Access + +To get the best (and possibly cheapest) performance, pick a site from +the list below and use it to grab the complete list of mirror sites. +From there you can find the quickest site for you. Remember, the +following list is I<not> the complete list of CPAN mirrors. + + http://www.perl.com/CPAN (redirects to another mirror) + http://www.perl.org/CPAN + ftp://ftp.funet.fi/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/ + http://www.cs.ruu.nl/pub/PERL/CPAN/ + ftp://ftp.cs.colorado.edu/pub/perl/CPAN/ + +http:/www.oasis.leo.org/perl/ has, amongst other things, source to +versions 1 through 5 of Perl. + +=head2 What mailing lists are there for perl? + +Most of the major modules (tk, CGI, libwww-perl) have their own +mailing lists. Consult the documentation that came with the module for +subscription information. The following are a list of mailing lists +related to perl itself. + +If you subscribe to a mailing list, it behooves you to know how to +unsubscribe from it. Strident pleas to the list itself to get you off +will not be favorably received. + +=over 4 + +=item MacPerl + +There is a mailing list for discussing Macintosh Perl. Contact +"mac-perl-request@iis.ee.ethz.ch". + +Also see Matthias Neeracher's (the creator and maintainer of MacPerl) +webpage at http://www.iis.ee.ethz.ch/~neeri/macintosh/perl.html for +many links to interesting MacPerl sites, and the applications/MPW +tools, precompiled. + +=item Perl5-Porters + +The core development team have a mailing list for discussing fixes and +changes to the language. Send mail to +"perl5-porters-request@perl.org" with help in the body of the message +for information on subscribing. + +=item NTPerl + +This list is used to discuss issues involving Win32 Perl 5 (Windows NT +and Win95). Subscribe by emailing ListManager@ActiveWare.com with the +message body: + + subscribe Perl-Win32-Users + +The list software, also written in perl, will automatically determine +your address, and subscribe you automatically. To unsubscribe, email +the following in the message body to the same address like so: + + unsubscribe Perl-Win32-Users + +You can also check http://www.activeware.com/ and select "Mailing Lists" +to join or leave this list. + +=item Perl-Packrats + +Discussion related to archiving of perl materials, particularly the +Comprehensive PerlArchive Network (CPAN). Subscribe by emailing +majordomo@cis.ufl.edu: + + subscribe perl-packrats + +The list software, also written in perl, will automatically determine +your address, and subscribe you automatically. To unsubscribe, simple +prepend the same command with an "un", and mail to the same address +like so: + + unsubscribe perl-packrats + +=back + +=head2 Archives of comp.lang.perl.misc + +Have you tried Deja News or Alta Vista? + +ftp.cis.ufl.edu:/pub/perl/comp.lang.perl.*/monthly has an almost +complete collection dating back to 12/89 (missing 08/91 through +12/93). They are kept as one large file for each month. + +You'll probably want more a sophisticated query and retrieval mechanism +than a file listing, preferably one that allows you to retrieve +articles using a fast-access indices, keyed on at least author, date, +subject, thread (as in "trn") and probably keywords. The best +solution the FAQ authors know of is the MH pick command, but it is +very slow to select on 18000 articles. + +If you have, or know where can be found, the missing sections, please +let perlfaq-suggestions@perl.com know. + +=head2 Perl Training + +While some large training companies offer their own courses on Perl, +you may prefer to contact individuals near and dear to the heart of +Perl development. Two well-known members of the Perl development team +who offer such things are Tom Christiansen <perl-classes@perl.com> +and Randal Schwartz <perl-training-info@stonehenge.com>, plus their +respective minions, who offer a variety of professional tutorials +and seminars on Perl. These courses include large public seminars, +private corporate training, and fly-ins to Colorado and Oregon. +See http://www.perl.com/perl/info/training.html for more details. + +=head2 Where can I buy a commercial version of Perl? + +In a sense, Perl already I<is> commercial software: It has a licence +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, dozens of software designers +and developers, and thousands of 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 +wrong. 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. + +Or you can purchase a real support contract. Although Cygnus historically +provided this service, they no longer sell support contracts for Perl. +Instead, the Paul Ingram Group will be taking up the slack through The +Perl Clinic. The following is a commercial from them: + +"Do you need professional support for Perl and/or Oraperl? Do you need +a support contract with defined levels of service? Do you want to pay +only for what you need? + +"The Paul Ingram Group has provided quality software development and +support services to some of the world's largest corporations for ten +years. We are now offering the same quality support services for Perl +at The Perl Clinic. This service is led by Tim Bunce, an active perl +porter since 1994 and well known as the author and maintainer of the +DBI, DBD::Oracle, and Oraperl modules and author/co-maintainer of The +Perl 5 Module List. We also offer Oracle users support for Perl5 +Oraperl and related modules (which Oracle is planning to ship as part +of Oracle Web Server 3). 20% of the profit from our Perl support work +will be donated to The Perl Institute." + +For more information, contact the The Perl Clinic: + + Tel: +44 1483 424424 + Fax: +44 1483 419419 + Web: http://www.perl.co.uk/ + Email: perl-support-info@perl.co.uk or Tim.Bunce@ig.co.uk + +=head2 Where do I send bug reports? + +If you are reporting a bug in the perl interpreter or the modules +shipped with perl, use the perlbug program in the perl distribution or +email your report to perlbug@perl.com. + +If you are posting a bug with a non-standard port (see the answer to +"What platforms is Perl available for?"), a binary distribution, or a +non-standard module (such as Tk, CGI, etc), then please see the +documentation that came with it to determine the correct place to post +bugs. + +Read the perlbug man page (perl5.004 or later) for more information. + +=head2 What is perl.com? perl.org? The Perl Institute? + +perl.org is the official vehicle for The Perl Institute. The motto of +TPI is "helping people help Perl help people" (or something like +that). It's a non-profit organization supporting development, +documentation, and dissemination of perl. Current directors of TPI +include Larry Wall, Tom Christiansen, and Randal Schwartz, whom you +may have heard of somewhere else around here. + +The perl.com domain is Tom Christiansen's domain. He created it as a +public service long before perl.org came about. It's the original PBS +of the Perl world, a clearinghouse for information about all things +Perlian, accepting no paid advertisements, glossy gifs, or (gasp!) +java applets on its pages. + +=head2 How do I learn about object-oriented Perl programming? + +L<perltoot> (distributed with 5.004 or later) is a good place to start. +Also, L<perlobj>, L<perlref>, and L<perlmod> are useful references, +while L<perlbot> has some excellent tips and tricks. + +=head1 AUTHOR AND COPYRIGHT + +Copyright (c) 1997 Tom Christiansen and Nathan Torkington. +All rights reserved. See L<perlfaq> for distribution information. |