5 perlhist - the Perl history records
12 # $Id: perlhist.pod,v 1.57 1999/01/26 17:38:07 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 5.003alpha7 1994-Mar-25
123 Andy 5.000alpha8 1994-Apr-04
124 Larry 5.000alpha9 1994-May-05 ext appears.
125 5.000alpha10 1994-???-??
126 5.000alpha11 1994-???-??
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-???-??
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-???-??
141 Andy 5.000b1a 1994-???-??
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
156 Larry 5.000 1994-Oct-18
158 Andy 5.000a 1994-Dec-19
173 Larry 5.001 1995-Mar-13
175 Andy 5.001a 1995-Mar-15
179 5.001e 1995-Apr-18 Stable.
186 5.001l 1995-Jun-06 Stable.
187 5.001m 1995-Jul-02 Very stable.
188 5.001n 1995-Oct-31 Very unstable.
189 5.002beta1 1995-Nov-21
196 Tom 5.002b1g 1995-Dec-21 Doc release.
197 Andy 5.002b1h 1996-Jan-05
199 Larry 5.002b3 1996-Feb-02
200 Andy 5.002gamma 1996-Feb-11
201 Larry 5.002delta 1996-Feb-27
203 Larry 5.002 1996-Feb-29 Prototypes.
205 Charles 5.002_01 1996-Mar-25
207 5.003 1996-Jun-25 Security release.
210 Nick 5.003_02 1996-Aug-10
211 Andy 5.003_03 1996-Aug-28
216 Chip 5.003_08 1996-Nov-19
237 5.003_90 1997-Feb-25 Ramping up to the 5.004 release.
244 5.003_97 1997-Apr-03 Fairly widely used.
245 5.003_97a 1997-Apr-05
246 5.003_97b 1997-Apr-08
247 5.003_97c 1997-Apr-10
248 5.003_97d 1997-Apr-13
249 5.003_97e 1997-Apr-15
250 5.003_97f 1997-Apr-17
251 5.003_97g 1997-Apr-18
252 5.003_97h 1997-Apr-24
253 5.003_97i 1997-Apr-25
254 5.003_97j 1997-Apr-28
257 5.003_99a 1997-May-09
258 p54rc1 1997-May-12 Release Candidates.
261 Chip 5.004 1997-May-15 A major maintenance release.
263 Tim 5.004_01 1997-Jun-13 The 5.004 maintenance track.
267 5.004m5t1 1998-Mar-04 Maintenance Trials (for 5.004_05).
268 5.004_04-m2 1997-May-01
269 5.004_04-m3 1998-May-15
270 5.004_04-m4 1998-May-19
271 5.004_04-MT5 1998-Jul-21
272 5.004_04-MT6 1998-Oct-09
273 5.004_04-MT7 1998-Nov-22
274 5.004_04-MT8 1998-Dec-03
275 Chip 5.004_04-MT9 1999-Apr-26
278 Malcolm 5.004_50 1997-Sep-09 The 5.005 development track.
295 Sarathy 5.004_67 1998-Jun-15
302 5.004_74 1998-Jul-14 5.005 beta candidate.
303 5.004_75 1998-Jul-15 5.005 beta1.
304 5.004_76 1998-Jul-21 5.005 beta2.
305 5.005 1998-Jul-22 Oneperl.
307 Sarathy 5.005_01 1998-Jul-27 The 5.005 maintenance track.
308 5.005_02-T1 1998-Aug-02
309 5.005_02-T2 1998-Aug-05
311 Graham 5.005_03-MT1 1998-Nov-30
312 5.005_03-MT2 1999-Jan-04
313 5.005_03-MT3 1999-Jan-17
314 5.005_03-MT4 1999-Jan-26
315 5.005_03-MT5 1999-Jan-28
317 Chip 5.005_04 1999-***-**
319 Sarathy 5.005_50 1998-Jul-26 The 5.6 development track.
331 =head2 SELECTED RELEASE SIZES
333 For example the notation "core: 212 29" in the release 1.000 means that
334 it had in the core 212 kilobytes, in 29 files. The "core".."doc" are
337 release core lib ext t doc
338 ======================================================================
340 1.000 212 29 - - - - 38 51 62 3
341 1.014 219 29 - - - - 39 52 68 4
342 2.000 309 31 2 3 - - 55 57 92 4
343 2.001 312 31 2 3 - - 55 57 94 4
344 3.000 508 36 24 11 - - 79 73 156 5
345 3.044 645 37 61 20 - - 90 74 190 6
346 4.000 635 37 59 20 - - 91 75 198 4
347 4.019 680 37 85 29 - - 98 76 199 4
348 4.036 709 37 89 30 - - 98 76 208 5
349 5.000alpha2 785 50 114 32 - - 112 86 209 5
350 5.000alpha3 801 50 117 33 - - 121 87 209 5
351 5.000alpha9 1022 56 149 43 116 29 125 90 217 6
352 5.000a12h 978 49 140 49 205 46 152 97 228 9
353 5.000b3h 1035 53 232 70 216 38 162 94 218 21
354 5.000 1038 53 250 76 216 38 154 92 536 62
355 5.001m 1071 54 388 82 240 38 159 95 544 29
356 5.002 1121 54 661 101 287 43 155 94 847 35
357 5.003 1129 54 680 102 291 43 166 100 853 35
358 5.003_07 1231 60 748 106 396 53 213 137 976 39
359 5.004 1351 60 1230 136 408 51 355 161 1587 55
360 5.004_01 1356 60 1258 138 410 51 358 161 1587 55
361 5.004_04 1375 60 1294 139 413 51 394 162 1629 55
362 5.004_05 1463 60 1435 150 394 50 445 175 1855 59
363 5.004_51 1401 61 1260 140 413 53 358 162 1594 56
364 5.004_53 1422 62 1295 141 438 70 394 162 1637 56
365 5.004_56 1501 66 1301 140 447 74 408 165 1648 57
366 5.004_59 1555 72 1317 142 448 74 424 171 1678 58
367 5.004_62 1602 77 1327 144 629 92 428 173 1674 58
368 5.004_65 1626 77 1358 146 615 92 446 179 1698 60
369 5.004_68 1856 74 1382 152 619 92 463 187 1784 60
370 5.004_70 1863 75 1456 154 675 92 494 194 1809 60
371 5.004_73 1874 76 1467 152 762 102 506 196 1883 61
372 5.004_75 1877 76 1467 152 770 103 508 196 1896 62
373 5.005 1896 76 1469 152 795 103 509 197 1945 63
374 5.005_03 1936 77 1541 153 813 104 551 201 2176 72
375 5.005_50 1969 78 1842 301 795 103 514 198 1948 63
376 5.005_53 1999 79 1885 303 806 104 602 224 2002 67
377 5.005_56 2086 79 1970 307 866 113 672 238 2221 75
379 The "core"..."doc" mean the following files from the Perl source code
380 distribution. The glob notation ** means recursively, (.) means
385 ext ext/**/*.{[hcyt],xs,pm}
387 doc {README*,INSTALL,*[_.]man{,.?},pod/**/*.pod}
389 Here are some statistics for the other subdirectories and one file in
390 the Perl source distribution for somewhat more selected releases.
392 ======================================================================
395 1.014 2.001 3.044 4.000 4.019 4.036
397 atarist - - - - - - - - - - 113 31
398 Configure 31 1 37 1 62 1 73 1 83 1 86 1
399 eg - - 34 28 47 39 47 39 47 39 47 39
400 emacs - - - - - - 67 4 67 4 67 4
401 h2pl - - - - 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12
402 hints - - - - - - - - 5 42 11 56
403 msdos - - - - 41 13 57 15 58 15 60 15
404 os2 - - - - 63 22 81 29 81 29 113 31
405 usub - - - - 21 16 25 7 43 8 43 8
406 x2p 103 17 104 17 137 17 147 18 152 19 154 19
408 ======================================================================
410 5.000a2 5.000a12h 5.000b3h 5.000 5.001m 5.002 5.003
412 atarist 113 31 113 31 - - - - - - - - - -
413 bench - - 0 1 - - - - - - - - - -
414 Bugs 2 5 26 1 - - - - - - - - - -
415 dlperl 40 5 - - - - - - - - - - - -
416 do 127 71 - - - - - - - - - - - -
417 Configure - - 153 1 159 1 160 1 180 1 201 1 201 1
418 Doc - - 26 1 75 7 11 1 11 1 - - - -
419 eg 79 58 53 44 51 43 54 44 54 44 54 44 54 44
420 emacs 67 4 104 6 104 6 104 1 104 6 108 1 108 1
421 h2pl 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12
422 hints 11 56 12 46 18 48 18 48 44 56 73 59 77 60
423 msdos 60 15 60 15 - - - - - - - - - -
424 os2 113 31 113 31 - - - - - - 84 17 56 10
425 U - - 62 8 112 42 - - - - - - - -
426 usub 43 8 - - - - - - - - - - - -
427 utils - - - - - - - - - - 87 7 88 7
428 vms - - 80 7 123 9 184 15 304 20 500 24 475 26
429 x2p 171 22 171 21 162 20 162 20 279 20 280 20 280 20
431 ======================================================================
433 5.003_07 5.004 5.004_04 5.004_62 5.004_65 5.004_68
435 beos - - - - - - - - 1 1 1 1
436 Configure 217 1 225 1 225 1 240 1 248 1 256 1
437 cygwin32 - - 23 5 23 5 23 5 24 5 24 5
438 djgpp - - - - - - 14 5 14 5 14 5
439 eg 54 44 81 62 81 62 81 62 81 62 81 62
440 emacs 143 1 194 1 204 1 212 2 212 2 212 2
441 h2pl 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12
442 hints 90 62 129 69 132 71 144 72 151 74 155 74
443 os2 117 42 121 42 127 42 127 44 129 44 129 44
444 plan9 79 15 82 15 82 15 82 15 82 15 82 15
445 Porting 51 1 94 2 109 4 203 6 234 8 241 9
446 qnx - - 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2
447 utils 97 7 112 8 118 8 124 8 156 9 159 9
448 vms 505 27 518 34 524 34 538 34 569 34 569 34
449 win32 - - 285 33 378 36 470 39 493 39 575 41
450 x2p 280 19 281 19 281 19 281 19 282 19 281 19
452 ======================================================================
454 5.004_70 5.004_73 5.004_75 5.005 5.005_03
456 apollo - - - - - - - - 0 1
457 beos 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
458 Configure 256 1 256 1 264 1 264 1 270 1
459 cygwin32 24 5 24 5 24 5 24 5 24 5
460 djgpp 14 5 14 5 14 5 14 5 15 5
461 eg 86 65 86 65 86 65 86 65 86 65
462 emacs 262 2 262 2 262 2 262 2 274 2
463 h2pl 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12
464 hints 157 74 157 74 159 74 160 74 179 77
465 mint - - - - - - - - 4 7
466 mpeix - - - - 5 3 5 3 5 3
467 os2 129 44 139 44 142 44 143 44 148 44
468 plan9 82 15 82 15 82 15 82 15 82 15
469 Porting 241 9 253 9 259 10 264 12 272 13
470 qnx 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2
471 utils 160 9 160 9 160 9 160 9 164 9
472 vms 570 34 572 34 573 34 575 34 583 34
473 vos - - - - - - - - 156 10
474 win32 577 41 585 41 585 41 587 41 600 42
475 x2p 281 19 281 19 281 19 281 19 281 19
477 =head2 SELECTED PATCH SIZES
479 The "diff lines kb" means that for example the patch 5.003_08, to be
480 applied on top of the 5.003_07 (or whatever was before the 5.003_08)
481 added lines for 110 kilobytes, it removed lines for 19 kilobytes, and
482 changed lines for 424 kilobytes. Just the lines themselves are
483 counted, not their context. The "+ - !" become from the diff(1)
484 context diff output format.
486 Pump- Release Date diff lines kB
489 ===========================================================================
491 Chip 5.003_08 1996-Nov-19 110 19 424
492 5.003_09 1996-Nov-26 38 9 248
493 5.003_10 1996-Nov-29 29 2 27
494 5.003_11 1996-Dec-06 73 12 165
495 5.003_12 1996-Dec-19 275 6 436
496 5.003_13 1996-Dec-20 95 1 56
497 5.003_14 1996-Dec-23 23 7 333
498 5.003_15 1996-Dec-23 0 0 1
499 5.003_16 1996-Dec-24 12 3 50
500 5.003_17 1996-Dec-27 19 1 14
501 5.003_18 1996-Dec-31 21 1 32
502 5.003_19 1997-Jan-04 80 3 85
503 5.003_20 1997-Jan-07 18 1 146
504 5.003_21 1997-Jan-15 38 10 221
505 5.003_22 1997-Jan-16 4 0 18
506 5.003_23 1997-Jan-25 71 15 119
507 5.003_24 1997-Jan-29 426 1 20
508 5.003_25 1997-Feb-04 21 8 169
509 5.003_26 1997-Feb-10 16 1 15
510 5.003_27 1997-Feb-18 32 10 38
511 5.003_28 1997-Feb-21 58 4 66
512 5.003_90 1997-Feb-25 22 2 34
513 5.003_91 1997-Mar-01 37 1 39
514 5.003_92 1997-Mar-06 16 3 69
515 5.003_93 1997-Mar-10 12 3 15
516 5.003_94 1997-Mar-22 407 7 200
517 5.003_95 1997-Mar-25 41 1 37
518 5.003_96 1997-Apr-01 283 5 261
519 5.003_97 1997-Apr-03 13 2 34
520 5.003_97a 1997-Apr-05 57 1 27
521 5.003_97b 1997-Apr-08 14 1 20
522 5.003_97c 1997-Apr-10 20 1 16
523 5.003_97d 1997-Apr-13 8 0 16
524 5.003_97e 1997-Apr-15 15 4 46
525 5.003_97f 1997-Apr-17 7 1 33
526 5.003_97g 1997-Apr-18 6 1 42
527 5.003_97h 1997-Apr-24 23 3 68
528 5.003_97i 1997-Apr-25 23 1 31
529 5.003_97j 1997-Apr-28 36 1 49
530 5.003_98 1997-Apr-30 171 12 539
531 5.003_99 1997-May-01 6 0 7
532 5.003_99a 1997-May-09 36 2 61
533 p54rc1 1997-May-12 8 1 11
534 p54rc2 1997-May-14 6 0 40
536 5.004 1997-May-15 4 0 4
538 Tim 5.004_01 1997-Jun-13 222 14 57
539 5.004_02 1997-Aug-07 112 16 119
540 5.004_03 1997-Sep-05 109 0 17
541 5.004_04 1997-Oct-15 66 8 173
543 =head1 THE KEEPERS OF THE RECORDS
545 Jarkko Hietaniemi <F<jhi@iki.fi>>.
547 Thanks to the collective memory of the Perlfolk. In addition to the
548 Keepers of the Pumpkin also Alan Champion, Andreas König, John
549 Macdonald, Matthias Neeracher, Michael Peppler, Randal Schwartz, and
550 Paul D. Smith sent corrections and additions.