From: Jarkko Hietaniemi Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2003 20:31:49 +0000 (+0000) Subject: README.macosx from Sherm Pendley. X-Git-Url: http://git.shadowcat.co.uk/gitweb/gitweb.cgi?a=commitdiff_plain;h=9ff7b177b9087b27a95fa3e41960f92cc39f5aa1;p=p5sagit%2Fp5-mst-13.2.git README.macosx from Sherm Pendley. p4raw-id: //depot/perl@20394 --- diff --git a/MANIFEST b/MANIFEST index 2b40f3e..0681cd5 100644 --- a/MANIFEST +++ b/MANIFEST @@ -2449,6 +2449,7 @@ README.jp About using Perl and Japanese README.ko About using Perl and Korean README.machten Notes about Power MachTen port README.macos Notes about Mac OS (Classic) +README.macosx Notes about Mac OS X README.micro Notes about microperl README.mint Notes about Atari MiNT port README.mpeix Notes about MPE/iX port diff --git a/README.macosx b/README.macosx new file mode 100644 index 0000000..27921e0 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.macosx @@ -0,0 +1,130 @@ +If you read this file _as_is_, just ignore the funny characters you see. +It is written in the POD format (see pod/perlpod.pod) which is specially +designed to be readable as is. + +=head1 NAME + +README.macosx - Perl under Mac OS X + +=head1 SYNOPSIS + +This document briefly describes perl under Mac OS X. + + +=head1 DESCRIPTION + +The latest Perl (5.8.1-RC3 as of this writing) builds without changes +under Mac OS X. Under the 10.3 "Panther" release, all self-tests pass, +and all standard features are supported. + +Earlier Mac OS X releases did not include a completely thread-safe libc, +so threading is not fully supported. Also, earlier releases included a +somewhat buggy libdb, so some of the DB_File tests are known to fail on +those releases. + + +=head1 INSTALLATION PREFIX + +The default installation location for this release uses the traditional +UNIX directory layout under /usr/local. This is the recommended location +for most users, and will leave the Apple-supplied Perl and its modules +undisturbed. + +Using an installation prefix of '/usr' will result in a directory layout +that mirrors that of Apple's default Perl, with core modules stored in +'/System/Library/Perl/${version}', CPAN modules stored in +'/Library/Perl/${version}', and the addition of +'/Network/Library/Perl/${version}' to @INC for modules that are stored +on a file server and used by many Macs. + + +=head1 LIBPERL AND PREBINDING + +Mac OS X ships with a dynamically-loaded libperl, but the default for +this release is to compile a static libperl. The reason for this is +pre-binding. Dynamic libraries can be pre-bound to a specific address in +memory in order to decrease load time. To do this, one needs to be aware +of the location and size of all previously-loaded libraries. Apple +collects this information as part of their overall OS build process, and +thus has easy access to it when building Perl, but ordinary users would +need to go to a great deal of effort to obtain the information needed +for pre-binding. + +You can override the default and build a shared libperl if you wish, but +the load time will be significantly greater than either the static +library, or Apple's pre-bound dynamic library. + + +=head1 UPDATING PANTHER + +As of this writing, the latest Perl release that has been tested and +approved for inclusion in the 10.3 "Panther" release of Mac OS X is +5.8.1 RC3. It is currently unknown whether the final 5.8.1 release will +be made in time to be tested and included with Panther. + +If the final release of Perl 5.8.1 is not made in time to be included +with Panther, it is recommended that you wait for an official Apple +update to the OS, rather than attempting to update it yourself. In most +cases, if you need a newer Perl, it is preferable to install it in some +other location, such as /usr/local or /opt, rather than overwriting the +system Perl. + +If you find that you do need to update the system Perl, there is one +potential issue. If you upgrade using the default static libperl, you +will find that the dynamic libperl supplied by Apple will not be +deleted. If both libraries are present when an application that links +against libperl is built, ld will link against the dynamic library by +default. So, if you need to replace Apple's dynamic libperl with a +static libperl, you need to be sure to delete the older dynamic library +after you've installed the update. + +Note that this is only an issue when updating from an older build of the +same Perl version. If you're updating from (for example) 5.8.1 to 5.8.2, +this issue won't affect you. + + +=head1 MACPERL + +Quite a bit has been written about MacPerl, the Perl distribution for +"Classic MacOS" - that is, versions 9 and earlier of MacOS. Because it +runs in environment that's very different from that of UNIX, many things +are done differently in MacPerl. Modules are installed using a different +procedure, Perl itself is built differently, path names are different, +etc. + +From the perspective of a Perl programmer, Mac OS X is more like a +traditional UNIX than Classic MacOS. If you find documentation that +refers to a special procedure that's needed for MacOS that's drastically +different from the instructions provided for UNIX, the MacOS +instructions are quite often intended for MacPerl on Classic MacOS. In +that case, the correct procedure on Mac OS X is usually to follow the +UNIX instructions, rather than the MacPerl instructions. + + +=head1 CARBON + +MacPerl ships with a number of modules that are used to access the +classic MacOS toolbox. Many of these modules have been updated to use +Mac OS X's newer "Carbon" toolbox, and are available from CPAN in the +"Mac::Carbon" module. + + +=head1 COCOA + +There are two ways to use Cocoa from Perl. Apple's PerlObjCBridge +module, included with Mac OS X, can be used by standalone scripts to +access Foundation (i.e. non-GUI) classes and objects. + +An alternative is CamelBones, a framework that allows access to both +Foundation and AppKit classes and objects, so that full GUI applications +can be built in Perl. CamelBones can be found on SourceForge, at +L. + + +=head1 AUTHOR + +This README was written by Sherm Pendley Esherm@dot-app.orgE. + +=head1 DATE + +Last modified 2003.07.31.