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Re: Perl 5.10.1

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From:
David E. Wheeler
Date:
June 23, 2009 23:35
Subject:
Re: Perl 5.10.1
Message ID:
AB7A919B-8148-408B-8BB3-C7FA992BD1A8@kineticode.com
On Jun 23, 2009, at 11:12 PM, Rafael Garcia-Suarez wrote:

> To me, detesting packaging systems is a bit like detesting version
> control systems... and I know the guts of rpm enough to know how
> hateful they can be.

I'm not talking about the source code for packaging systems; I likely  
know less than you do. What I know is that they are always behind the  
release curve, often integrate unreleased patches (!), and don't use  
stuff I've compiled and installed myself as dependencies. And the time  
they save me compared to compiling is negligible compared with the  
time I typically spend configuring the software to work once it's  
installed.

> Going back is not easy, unless you never install any modules, and
> don't use any program that embeds perl or that is linked with
> libperl.so (like mod_perl, or things like the vim editor on my ubuntu
> system). Perl is actually pretty low on the dependency chain.

Only a fool would upgrade a production box to a new release and  
completely replace the existing version in the process. One typically  
installs it in a completely separate root, and if it fails, you delete  
that version without any effect on the installed version. Any admin of  
average skill can do this, and should.

Best,

David

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