Each of these is explained in further detail below.
B<NOTE>: starting from the release 5.6.0, Perl will use a version
-scheme where even-numbered subreleases (like 5.6) are stable
+scheme where even-numbered subreleases (like 5.6 and 5.8) are stable
maintenance releases and odd-numbered subreleases (like 5.7) are
unstable development releases. Development releases should not be
used in production environments. Fixes and new features are first
Pure perl modules without XS or C code should continue to work fine
without reinstallation. See the discussions below on
L<"Coexistence with earlier versions of perl5"> and
-L<"Upgrading from 5.005 to 5.6"> for more details.
+L<"Upgrading from 5.005 or 5.6 to 5.8.0"> for more details.
The standard extensions supplied with Perl will be handled automatically.
sh Configure -des
Note: for development releases (odd subreleases, like 5.7, as opposed
-to maintenance releases which have even subreleases, like 5.6)
+to maintenance releases which have even subreleases, like 5.6 and 5.8)
if you want to use Configure -d, you will also need to supply -Dusedevel
to Configure, because the default answer to the question "do you really
want to Configure a development version?" is "no". The -Dusedevel
=item Directories for the perl distribution
-By default, Configure will use the following directories for 5.6.0.
+By default, Configure will use the following directories for 5.8.0.
$version is the full perl version number, including subversion, e.g.
-5.6.0 or 5.6.1, and $archname is a string like sun4-sunos,
+5.8.0 or 5.8.1, and $archname is a string like sun4-sunos,
determined by Configure. The full definitions of all Configure
variables are in the file Porting/Glossary.
Perl will search these directories (including architecture and
version-specific subdirectories) for add-on modules and extensions.
+For example, if you have a bundle of perl libraries from a previous
+installation, perhaps in a strange place:
+
+ Configure -Dotherlibdirs=/usr/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.6.1
+
=item APPLLIB_EXP
There is one other way of adding paths to @INC at perl build time, and
You can continue to use the old default from the command line with
- sh Configure -Dman3dir=/usr/local/lib/perl5/5.6.0/man/man3
+ sh Configure -Dman3dir=/usr/local/lib/perl5/5.8.0/man/man3
Some users also prefer to use a .3pm suffix. You can do that with
suggesting $prefix/lib/perl5/, Configure will suggest $prefix/lib.
Thus, for example, if you Configure with
--Dprefix=/opt/perl, then the default library directories for 5.6.0 are
+-Dprefix=/opt/perl, then the default library directories for 5.8.0 are
Configure variable Default value
- $privlib /opt/perl/lib/5.6.0
- $archlib /opt/perl/lib/5.6.0/$archname
- $sitelib /opt/perl/lib/site_perl/5.6.0
- $sitearch /opt/perl/lib/site_perl/5.6.0/$archname
+ $privlib /opt/perl/lib/5.8.0
+ $archlib /opt/perl/lib/5.8.0/$archname
+ $sitelib /opt/perl/lib/site_perl/5.8.0
+ $sitearch /opt/perl/lib/site_perl/5.8.0/$archname
=head2 Changing the installation directory
to contain any valid shell commands. It will be run just after the
platform-specific hints files.
-Note: Since the directory hierarchy for 5.6.0 contains a number of
+Note: Since the directory hierarchy since 5.6.0 contains a number of
new vendor* and site* entries, your Policy.sh file will probably not
set them to your desired values. I encourage you to run Configure
interactively to be sure it puts things where you want them.
but will not interfere with the 5.005_03 version.
The last entry, /usr/local/lib/perl5/site_perl/, is there so that
-5.6.0 will look for 5.004-era pure perl modules.
+5.6.0 and above will look for 5.004-era pure perl modules.
-Lastly, suppose you now install version 5.6.1, which we'll assume is
-binary compatible with 5.6.0 and 5.005. The directories searched
-by 5.6.1 (if you don't change the Configure defaults) will be:
+Lastly, suppose you later installed 5.6.1, and finally install version
+5.8.0, which we'll assume is backwards binary compatible with 5.6.0
+and 5.005. The directories searched by 5.8.0 (if you don't change the
+Configure defaults) will be:
+
+ /usr/local/lib/perl5/5.8.0/$archname
+ /usr/local/lib/perl5/5.8.0
+ /usr/local/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.8.0/$archname
+ /usr/local/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.8.0
- /usr/local/lib/perl5/5.6.1/$archname
- /usr/local/lib/perl5/5.6.1
/usr/local/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.6.1/$archname
/usr/local/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.6.1
/usr/local/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.005/$archname
/usr/local/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.005
+
/usr/local/lib/perl5/site_perl/
Assuming the users in your site are still actively using perl 5.6.0 and
-5.005 after you installed 5.6.1, you can continue to install add-on
-extensions using any of perl 5.6.1, 5.6.0, or 5.005. The installations
+5.005 after you installed 5.8.0, you can continue to install add-on
+extensions using any of perl 5.8.0, 5.6.1, 5.6.0, or 5.005. The installations
of these different versions remain distinct, but remember that the newer
versions of perl are automatically set up to search the site libraries of
the older ones. This means that installing a new extension with 5.005
subversions may not have all the compatibility wrinkles ironed out
yet.
-=head2 Upgrading from 5.005 to 5.6.0
+=head2 Upgrading from 5.005 or 5.6.0 to 5.8.0
-Most extensions built and installed with versions of perl
-prior to 5.005_50 will not need to be recompiled to be used with
-5.6.0. If you find you do need to rebuild an extension with 5.6.0,
-you may safely do so without disturbing the 5.005 installation.
+Most extensions built and installed with versions of perl prior to
+5.005_50 and 5.6.0 will not need to be recompiled to be used with 5.8.0.
+If you find you do need to rebuild an extension with 5.8.0, you may
+safely do so without disturbing the 5.005 or 5.6.0 installations.
(See L<"Coexistence with earlier versions of perl5"> above.)
See your installed copy of the perllocal.pod file for a (possibly
projects / p5sagit/p5-mst-13.2.git / commitdiff