Perl issues
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
I have some ideas on what I'm planning on doing with the Debian Perl
package in the near future.
1. Split the main executable and a small set of base files into
perl-base. This would be Priority: required, should it be Essential?
There will still be a main Perl package but it would supplement
perl-base instead of replacing it.[1]
2. The man-pages and html-docs would go into a separate perl-doc
package.
3. Currently Perl 5.004 is compiled with Perl 5.003 compatibility.
Scott Ellis suggested that we turn this off when we compile Perl for
libc6. This sounds like a good idea because it leads to a much
cleaner namespace for embedded Perl.[2] Leading to:
4. After Perl for libc6 is out, I would issue a perl-lib package for use
as a shared library for Perl. The main executable would still be
statically linked for speed though.[3]
5. The Perl package will also become Perl5 at the libc6 upgrade,
providing Perl. Vincent Renardias has asked if we could have a fully
versioned package name of Perl5.004. This has merits but leads to
overly long package names: perl5.004-base and is really inelegant.
The cases where multiple full releases of Perl need to be installed
are very rare and so unless there is a hew and a cry it will probably
just be Perl5.
6. When developmental releases come out, I'll issue experimental
packages with the full version in the name (perl5.004_50) that will
only have the versioned executable name (/usr/bin/perl5.00450). This
will allow experimental packages to sit alongside production
versions.
7. When the maintenance releases come out, I'll wait a week or so to be
sure there isn't nasty brokenness[4] and issue it as a new Perl5
package.
As an aside, I have both perl-5.003.07-10 and perl-5.004-1 on my ftp
site[5] as well as a tar file (perl-build-1.01.tar.gz) that will allow
you to build your own perl packages from CPAN[6] sources.
I'd really appreciate your input on these issues, so that I can go
forward with the Perl package.
Darren
[1] As opposed to the brokenness I introduced in bo due to hurriedness
and not thinking it through.
[2] apache-modules (mod_perl), the vi clones, and others can use this
then.
[3] 10-25% degradation otherwise.
[4] Not trying to impugn your testing, Tim (if you're reading this) but
strange things do happen.
[5] ftp://ftp.daft.com/pub/debian/perl* or
ftp://ftp.daft.com/pub/Perl5/pause/debian/*
[6] See http://www.perl.com/cpan/CPAN.html
- --
<torin@daft.com> <http://www.daft.com/~torin> <torin@debian.org> <torin@io.com>
Darren Stalder/2608 Second Ave, @282/Seattle, WA 98121-1212/USA/+1-800-921-4996
@ Do you have your clothes on? I probably don't. Take yours off. Feel better. @
@ Sysadmin, webweaver, postmaster for hire. C/Perl/CGI programmer and tutor. @
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: 2.6.3
Charset: noconv
Comment: Processed by Mailcrypt 3.4, an Emacs/PGP interface
iQCVAwUBM4LWAo4wrq++1Ls5AQFPQwP/Zc/0lA2pSf+GtaB170CHzG1oEbFlv2IO
bnx24LTZkL7YZobwmQIldEkdBC/++89RifaHZI6JEOOt/iOWZZKvhkhIFFMG9d5G
s5QzIn0RC9WBUNgC8zBOoxelKy3j3cJAn1Az8ckTlFpvGmwtqMaxUoAMq59SEncG
nR14BPDFAWQ=
=iWJX
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
--
TO UNSUBSCRIBE FROM THIS MAILING LIST: e-mail the word "unsubscribe" to
debian-devel-request@lists.debian.org .
Trouble? e-mail to templin@bucknell.edu .
Reply to: