5 perlhist - the Perl history records
12 # $Id: perlhist.pod,v 1.2 2000/01/24 11:44:47 jhi Exp $
19 This document aims to record the Perl source code releases.
23 Perl history in brief, by Larry Wall:
25 Perl 0 introduced Perl to my officemates.
26 Perl 1 introduced Perl to the world, and changed /\(...\|...\)/ to
27 /(...|...)/. \(Dan Faigin still hasn't forgiven me. :-\)
28 Perl 2 introduced Henry Spencer's regular expression package.
29 Perl 3 introduced the ability to handle binary data (embedded nulls).
30 Perl 4 introduced the first Camel book. Really. We mostly just
31 switched version numbers so the book could refer to 4.000.
32 Perl 5 introduced everything else, including the ability to
33 introduce everything else.
35 =head1 THE KEEPERS OF THE PUMPKIN
37 Larry Wall, Andy Dougherty, Tom Christiansen, Charles Bailey, Nick
38 Ing-Simmons, Chip Salzenberg, Tim Bunce, Malcolm Beattie, Gurusamy
43 [from Porting/pumpkin.pod in the Perl source code distribution]
45 Chip Salzenberg gets credit for that, with a nod to his cow orker,
46 David Croy. We had passed around various names (baton, token, hot
47 potato) but none caught on. Then, Chip asked:
51 Who has the patch pumpkin?
53 To explain: David Croy once told me once that at a previous job,
54 there was one tape drive and multiple systems that used it for backups.
55 But instead of some high-tech exclusion software, they used a low-tech
56 method to prevent multiple simultaneous backups: a stuffed pumpkin.
57 No one was allowed to make backups unless they had the "backup pumpkin".
61 The name has stuck. The holder of the pumpkin is sometimes called
62 the pumpking (keeping the source afloat?) or the pumpkineer (pulling
67 Pump- Release Date Notes
72 ===========================================================================
74 Larry 0 Classified. Don't ask.
76 Larry 1.000 1987-Dec-18
81 Larry 2.000 1988-Jun-05
85 Larry 3.000 1989-Oct-18
95 3.019..27 1990-Aug-10 User subs.
101 3.042..43 1990-Jan-??
104 Larry 4.000 1991-Mar-21
109 4.011..18 1991-Nov-05
110 4.019 1991-Nov-11 Stable.
111 4.020..33 1992-Jun-08
114 Larry 4.036 1993-Feb-05 Very stable.
116 5.000alpha1 1993-Jul-31
117 5.000alpha2 1993-Aug-16
118 5.000alpha3 1993-Oct-10
119 5.000alpha4 1993-???-??
120 5.000alpha5 1993-???-??
121 5.000alpha6 1994-Mar-18
122 5.000alpha7 1994-Mar-25
123 Andy 5.000alpha8 1994-Apr-04
124 Larry 5.000alpha9 1994-May-05 ext appears.
125 5.000alpha10 1994-Jun-11
126 5.000alpha11 1994-Jul-01
127 Andy 5.000a11a 1994-Jul-07 To fit 14.
128 5.000a11b 1994-Jul-14
129 5.000a11c 1994-Jul-19
130 5.000a11d 1994-Jul-22
131 Larry 5.000alpha12 1994-Aug-04
132 Andy 5.000a12a 1994-Aug-08
133 5.000a12b 1994-Aug-15
134 5.000a12c 1994-Aug-22
135 5.000a12d 1994-Aug-22
136 5.000a12e 1994-Aug-22
137 5.000a12f 1994-Aug-24
138 5.000a12g 1994-Aug-24
139 5.000a12h 1994-Aug-24
140 Larry 5.000beta1 1994-Aug-30
141 Andy 5.000b1a 1994-Sep-06
142 Larry 5.000beta2 1994-Sep-14 Core slushified.
143 Andy 5.000b2a 1994-Sep-14
146 Larry 5.000beta3 1994-Sep-??
147 Andy 5.000b3a 1994-Sep-18
154 Andy 5.000b3h 1994-Oct-07
155 Larry? 5.000gamma 1994-Oct-13?
157 Larry 5.000 1994-Oct-17
159 Andy 5.000a 1994-Dec-19
175 Larry 5.001 1995-Mar-13
177 Andy 5.001a 1995-Mar-15
181 5.001e 1995-Apr-18 Stable.
188 5.001l 1995-Jun-06 Stable.
189 5.001m 1995-Jul-02 Very stable.
190 5.001n 1995-Oct-31 Very unstable.
191 5.002beta1 1995-Nov-21
198 Tom 5.002b1g 1995-Dec-21 Doc release.
199 Andy 5.002b1h 1996-Jan-05
201 Larry 5.002b3 1996-Feb-02
202 Andy 5.002gamma 1996-Feb-11
203 Larry 5.002delta 1996-Feb-27
205 Larry 5.002 1996-Feb-29 Prototypes.
207 Charles 5.002_01 1996-Mar-25
209 5.003 1996-Jun-25 Security release.
212 Nick 5.003_02 1996-Aug-10
213 Andy 5.003_03 1996-Aug-28
218 Chip 5.003_08 1996-Nov-19
239 5.003_90 1997-Feb-25 Ramping up to the 5.004 release.
246 5.003_97 1997-Apr-03 Fairly widely used.
247 5.003_97a 1997-Apr-05
248 5.003_97b 1997-Apr-08
249 5.003_97c 1997-Apr-10
250 5.003_97d 1997-Apr-13
251 5.003_97e 1997-Apr-15
252 5.003_97f 1997-Apr-17
253 5.003_97g 1997-Apr-18
254 5.003_97h 1997-Apr-24
255 5.003_97i 1997-Apr-25
256 5.003_97j 1997-Apr-28
259 5.003_99a 1997-May-09
260 p54rc1 1997-May-12 Release Candidates.
263 Chip 5.004 1997-May-15 A major maintenance release.
265 Tim 5.004_01 1997-Jun-13 The 5.004 maintenance track.
269 5.004m5t1 1998-Mar-04 Maintenance Trials (for 5.004_05).
270 5.004_04-m2 1997-May-01
271 5.004_04-m3 1998-May-15
272 5.004_04-m4 1998-May-19
273 5.004_04-MT5 1998-Jul-21
274 5.004_04-MT6 1998-Oct-09
275 5.004_04-MT7 1998-Nov-22
276 5.004_04-MT8 1998-Dec-03
277 Chip 5.004_04-MT9 1999-Apr-26
280 Malcolm 5.004_50 1997-Sep-09 The 5.005 development track.
297 Sarathy 5.004_67 1998-Jun-15
304 5.004_74 1998-Jul-14 5.005 beta candidate.
305 5.004_75 1998-Jul-15 5.005 beta1.
306 5.004_76 1998-Jul-21 5.005 beta2.
307 5.005 1998-Jul-22 Oneperl.
309 Sarathy 5.005_01 1998-Jul-27 The 5.005 maintenance track.
310 5.005_02-T1 1998-Aug-02
311 5.005_02-T2 1998-Aug-05
313 Graham 5.005_03-MT1 1998-Nov-30
314 5.005_03-MT2 1999-Jan-04
315 5.005_03-MT3 1999-Jan-17
316 5.005_03-MT4 1999-Jan-26
317 5.005_03-MT5 1999-Jan-28
319 Chip 5.005_04 2000-***-**
321 Sarathy 5.005_50 1998-Jul-26 The 5.6 development track.
336 5.5.650 2000-Feb-08 beta1
337 5.5.660 2000-Feb-22 beta2
338 5.5.670 2000-Feb-29 beta3
339 5.6.0-RC1 2000-Mar-09 release candidate 1
340 5.6.0-RC2 2000-Mar-14 release candidate 2
341 5.6.0-RC3 2000-Mar-21 release candidate 3
344 =head2 SELECTED RELEASE SIZES
346 For example the notation "core: 212 29" in the release 1.000 means that
347 it had in the core 212 kilobytes, in 29 files. The "core".."doc" are
350 release core lib ext t doc
351 ======================================================================
353 1.000 212 29 - - - - 38 51 62 3
354 1.014 219 29 - - - - 39 52 68 4
355 2.000 309 31 2 3 - - 55 57 92 4
356 2.001 312 31 2 3 - - 55 57 94 4
357 3.000 508 36 24 11 - - 79 73 156 5
358 3.044 645 37 61 20 - - 90 74 190 6
359 4.000 635 37 59 20 - - 91 75 198 4
360 4.019 680 37 85 29 - - 98 76 199 4
361 4.036 709 37 89 30 - - 98 76 208 5
362 5.000alpha2 785 50 114 32 - - 112 86 209 5
363 5.000alpha3 801 50 117 33 - - 121 87 209 5
364 5.000alpha9 1022 56 149 43 116 29 125 90 217 6
365 5.000a12h 978 49 140 49 205 46 152 97 228 9
366 5.000b3h 1035 53 232 70 216 38 162 94 218 21
367 5.000 1038 53 250 76 216 38 154 92 536 62
368 5.001m 1071 54 388 82 240 38 159 95 544 29
369 5.002 1121 54 661 101 287 43 155 94 847 35
370 5.003 1129 54 680 102 291 43 166 100 853 35
371 5.003_07 1231 60 748 106 396 53 213 137 976 39
372 5.004 1351 60 1230 136 408 51 355 161 1587 55
373 5.004_01 1356 60 1258 138 410 51 358 161 1587 55
374 5.004_04 1375 60 1294 139 413 51 394 162 1629 55
375 5.004_05 1463 60 1435 150 394 50 445 175 1855 59
376 5.004_51 1401 61 1260 140 413 53 358 162 1594 56
377 5.004_53 1422 62 1295 141 438 70 394 162 1637 56
378 5.004_56 1501 66 1301 140 447 74 408 165 1648 57
379 5.004_59 1555 72 1317 142 448 74 424 171 1678 58
380 5.004_62 1602 77 1327 144 629 92 428 173 1674 58
381 5.004_65 1626 77 1358 146 615 92 446 179 1698 60
382 5.004_68 1856 74 1382 152 619 92 463 187 1784 60
383 5.004_70 1863 75 1456 154 675 92 494 194 1809 60
384 5.004_73 1874 76 1467 152 762 102 506 196 1883 61
385 5.004_75 1877 76 1467 152 770 103 508 196 1896 62
386 5.005 1896 76 1469 152 795 103 509 197 1945 63
387 5.005_03 1936 77 1541 153 813 104 551 201 2176 72
388 5.005_50 1969 78 1842 301 795 103 514 198 1948 63
389 5.005_53 1999 79 1885 303 806 104 602 224 2002 67
390 5.005_56 2086 79 1970 307 866 113 672 238 2221 75
392 The "core"..."doc" mean the following files from the Perl source code
393 distribution. The glob notation ** means recursively, (.) means
398 ext ext/**/*.{[hcyt],xs,pm}
400 doc {README*,INSTALL,*[_.]man{,.?},pod/**/*.pod}
402 Here are some statistics for the other subdirectories and one file in
403 the Perl source distribution for somewhat more selected releases.
405 ======================================================================
408 1.014 2.001 3.044 4.000 4.019 4.036
410 atarist - - - - - - - - - - 113 31
411 Configure 31 1 37 1 62 1 73 1 83 1 86 1
412 eg - - 34 28 47 39 47 39 47 39 47 39
413 emacs - - - - - - 67 4 67 4 67 4
414 h2pl - - - - 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12
415 hints - - - - - - - - 5 42 11 56
416 msdos - - - - 41 13 57 15 58 15 60 15
417 os2 - - - - 63 22 81 29 81 29 113 31
418 usub - - - - 21 16 25 7 43 8 43 8
419 x2p 103 17 104 17 137 17 147 18 152 19 154 19
421 ======================================================================
423 5.000a2 5.000a12h 5.000b3h 5.000 5.001m 5.002 5.003
425 atarist 113 31 113 31 - - - - - - - - - -
426 bench - - 0 1 - - - - - - - - - -
427 Bugs 2 5 26 1 - - - - - - - - - -
428 dlperl 40 5 - - - - - - - - - - - -
429 do 127 71 - - - - - - - - - - - -
430 Configure - - 153 1 159 1 160 1 180 1 201 1 201 1
431 Doc - - 26 1 75 7 11 1 11 1 - - - -
432 eg 79 58 53 44 51 43 54 44 54 44 54 44 54 44
433 emacs 67 4 104 6 104 6 104 1 104 6 108 1 108 1
434 h2pl 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12
435 hints 11 56 12 46 18 48 18 48 44 56 73 59 77 60
436 msdos 60 15 60 15 - - - - - - - - - -
437 os2 113 31 113 31 - - - - - - 84 17 56 10
438 U - - 62 8 112 42 - - - - - - - -
439 usub 43 8 - - - - - - - - - - - -
440 utils - - - - - - - - - - 87 7 88 7
441 vms - - 80 7 123 9 184 15 304 20 500 24 475 26
442 x2p 171 22 171 21 162 20 162 20 279 20 280 20 280 20
444 ======================================================================
446 5.003_07 5.004 5.004_04 5.004_62 5.004_65 5.004_68
448 beos - - - - - - - - 1 1 1 1
449 Configure 217 1 225 1 225 1 240 1 248 1 256 1
450 cygwin32 - - 23 5 23 5 23 5 24 5 24 5
451 djgpp - - - - - - 14 5 14 5 14 5
452 eg 54 44 81 62 81 62 81 62 81 62 81 62
453 emacs 143 1 194 1 204 1 212 2 212 2 212 2
454 h2pl 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12
455 hints 90 62 129 69 132 71 144 72 151 74 155 74
456 os2 117 42 121 42 127 42 127 44 129 44 129 44
457 plan9 79 15 82 15 82 15 82 15 82 15 82 15
458 Porting 51 1 94 2 109 4 203 6 234 8 241 9
459 qnx - - 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2
460 utils 97 7 112 8 118 8 124 8 156 9 159 9
461 vms 505 27 518 34 524 34 538 34 569 34 569 34
462 win32 - - 285 33 378 36 470 39 493 39 575 41
463 x2p 280 19 281 19 281 19 281 19 282 19 281 19
465 ======================================================================
467 5.004_70 5.004_73 5.004_75 5.005 5.005_03
469 apollo - - - - - - - - 0 1
470 beos 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
471 Configure 256 1 256 1 264 1 264 1 270 1
472 cygwin32 24 5 24 5 24 5 24 5 24 5
473 djgpp 14 5 14 5 14 5 14 5 15 5
474 eg 86 65 86 65 86 65 86 65 86 65
475 emacs 262 2 262 2 262 2 262 2 274 2
476 h2pl 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12
477 hints 157 74 157 74 159 74 160 74 179 77
478 mint - - - - - - - - 4 7
479 mpeix - - - - 5 3 5 3 5 3
480 os2 129 44 139 44 142 44 143 44 148 44
481 plan9 82 15 82 15 82 15 82 15 82 15
482 Porting 241 9 253 9 259 10 264 12 272 13
483 qnx 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2
484 utils 160 9 160 9 160 9 160 9 164 9
485 vms 570 34 572 34 573 34 575 34 583 34
486 vos - - - - - - - - 156 10
487 win32 577 41 585 41 585 41 587 41 600 42
488 x2p 281 19 281 19 281 19 281 19 281 19
490 =head2 SELECTED PATCH SIZES
492 The "diff lines kb" means that for example the patch 5.003_08, to be
493 applied on top of the 5.003_07 (or whatever was before the 5.003_08)
494 added lines for 110 kilobytes, it removed lines for 19 kilobytes, and
495 changed lines for 424 kilobytes. Just the lines themselves are
496 counted, not their context. The "+ - !" become from the diff(1)
497 context diff output format.
499 Pump- Release Date diff lines kB
502 ===========================================================================
504 Chip 5.003_08 1996-Nov-19 110 19 424
505 5.003_09 1996-Nov-26 38 9 248
506 5.003_10 1996-Nov-29 29 2 27
507 5.003_11 1996-Dec-06 73 12 165
508 5.003_12 1996-Dec-19 275 6 436
509 5.003_13 1996-Dec-20 95 1 56
510 5.003_14 1996-Dec-23 23 7 333
511 5.003_15 1996-Dec-23 0 0 1
512 5.003_16 1996-Dec-24 12 3 50
513 5.003_17 1996-Dec-27 19 1 14
514 5.003_18 1996-Dec-31 21 1 32
515 5.003_19 1997-Jan-04 80 3 85
516 5.003_20 1997-Jan-07 18 1 146
517 5.003_21 1997-Jan-15 38 10 221
518 5.003_22 1997-Jan-16 4 0 18
519 5.003_23 1997-Jan-25 71 15 119
520 5.003_24 1997-Jan-29 426 1 20
521 5.003_25 1997-Feb-04 21 8 169
522 5.003_26 1997-Feb-10 16 1 15
523 5.003_27 1997-Feb-18 32 10 38
524 5.003_28 1997-Feb-21 58 4 66
525 5.003_90 1997-Feb-25 22 2 34
526 5.003_91 1997-Mar-01 37 1 39
527 5.003_92 1997-Mar-06 16 3 69
528 5.003_93 1997-Mar-10 12 3 15
529 5.003_94 1997-Mar-22 407 7 200
530 5.003_95 1997-Mar-25 41 1 37
531 5.003_96 1997-Apr-01 283 5 261
532 5.003_97 1997-Apr-03 13 2 34
533 5.003_97a 1997-Apr-05 57 1 27
534 5.003_97b 1997-Apr-08 14 1 20
535 5.003_97c 1997-Apr-10 20 1 16
536 5.003_97d 1997-Apr-13 8 0 16
537 5.003_97e 1997-Apr-15 15 4 46
538 5.003_97f 1997-Apr-17 7 1 33
539 5.003_97g 1997-Apr-18 6 1 42
540 5.003_97h 1997-Apr-24 23 3 68
541 5.003_97i 1997-Apr-25 23 1 31
542 5.003_97j 1997-Apr-28 36 1 49
543 5.003_98 1997-Apr-30 171 12 539
544 5.003_99 1997-May-01 6 0 7
545 5.003_99a 1997-May-09 36 2 61
546 p54rc1 1997-May-12 8 1 11
547 p54rc2 1997-May-14 6 0 40
549 5.004 1997-May-15 4 0 4
551 Tim 5.004_01 1997-Jun-13 222 14 57
552 5.004_02 1997-Aug-07 112 16 119
553 5.004_03 1997-Sep-05 109 0 17
554 5.004_04 1997-Oct-15 66 8 173
556 =head1 THE KEEPERS OF THE RECORDS
558 Jarkko Hietaniemi <F<jhi@iki.fi>>.
560 Thanks to the collective memory of the Perlfolk. In addition to the
561 Keepers of the Pumpkin also Alan Champion, Andreas König, John
562 Macdonald, Matthias Neeracher, Jeff Okamoto, Michael Peppler,
563 Randal Schwartz, and Paul D. Smith sent corrections and additions.