From BFrench@usdl.com

The output from myconfig.....

Summary of my perl5 (5.0 patchlevel 5 subversion 2) configuration​:
  Platform​:
  osname=aix, osvers=4.3.2.0, archname=aix
  uname='aix u-sewpbcbo-vis2 3 4 00059247a100 '
  hint=recommended, useposix=true, d_sigaction=define
  usethreads=undef useperlio=undef d_sfio=undef
  Compiler​:
  cc='gcc', optimize='-O', gccversion=2.95.1 19990816 (release)
  cppflags='-D_ALL_SOURCE -D_ANSI_C_SOURCE -D_POSIX_SOURCE
-I/usr/local/include'
  ccflags ='-D_ALL_SOURCE -D_ANSI_C_SOURCE -D_POSIX_SOURCE
-I/usr/local/include'
  stdchar='unsigned char', d_stdstdio=define, usevfork=false
  intsize=4, longsize=4, ptrsize=4, doublesize=8
  d_longlong=define, longlongsize=8, d_longdbl=define, longdblsize=8
  alignbytes=8, usemymalloc=n, prototype=define
  Linker and Libraries​:
  ld='ld', ldflags =''
  libpth=/usr/local/lib/gcc-lib/powerpc-ibm-aix4.3.2.0/2.95.1
  libs=
  libc=, so=a, useshrplib=false, libperl=libperl.a
  Dynamic Linking​:
  dlsrc=dl_none.xs, dlext=none, d_dlsymun=undef, ccdlflags=''
  cccdlflags='', lddlflags=''

From @jhi

Bob French writes​:

Hi,
I've just completed a good build with AIX 4.3.2.0 using gcc 2.95.1 There
were some problems
with the hints and I needed to add -lmssa in order to get the math functions
to work
I've still got the build dir intact so if I can send you anything to help
let me know

Well, first of all​: why 5.005_02? There's 5.005_03 availabled.

Secondly​: -lmssa for the math functions? Surely -lm would have been enough?
What kind of problems with the hints (any other than the -lmssa thing)?

--
$jhi++; # http​://www.iki.fi/jhi/
  # There is this special biologist word we use for 'stable'.
  # It is 'dead'. -- Jack Cohen

From @jhi

Bob French writes​:

Why 5.005_02? because thats what showed at gnu.org at the time. I've gone to
the perl site and will give 5.005_03 a whirl.

As far as -lmssa goes, it's the Sys V version versus the IEEE lib and unless
I included it I got undefined math functions. I feel the same way you do
that -lm should take care of all math functions perl needs. It may be a
problem with AIX I'll look into it.

The only other thing I needed to was to add
/usr/local/lib/gcc-lib/powerpc-ibm-aix4.3.2.0/2.95.1 because it wasn't
looking in the powerpc* directory, This may
be an option I could change but I didn't know where to do it.

What was it looking *for* that could only be found in the powerpc*?

If you'd like me to I'll let you know how the 5.005_03 build goes.

Yes, please.

--
$jhi++; # http​://www.iki.fi/jhi/
  # There is this special biologist word we use for 'stable'.
  # It is 'dead'. -- Jack Cohen

From [Unknown Contact. See original ticket]

Bob French writes​:

Why 5.005_02? because thats what showed at gnu.org at the time. I've gone to
the perl site and will give 5.005_03 a whirl.

This is far from the first time that someone has (possibly) wasted their
time by putting effort into an out-of date version. Would the
attached patch to INSTALL be a Good Thing?

I had a slight difficulty in choosing the URL to include. Ideally it
should lead somewhere which says authoritatively "Latest is 5.005_03".
The only authoritative source is CPAN; on CPAN this information is only
obviously available encoded in the URL itself

  http​://www.perl.com/CPAN/src/latest_is_5.005_03

and including that would be self-defeating. And also, if you do try
to look at that, you get a really exciting blank page. Should there
be a file somewhere (e.g. at http​://www.perl.com/CPAN/src/latest )
which contains just that statement?

Mike Guy

--- ./INSTALL.orig	Mon Sep 27 03:46:42 1999
+++ ./INSTALL	Wed Oct 27 13:22:37 1999
@@ -4,6 +4,10 @@
 
 =head1 SYNOPSIS
 
+First, make sure you are installing an up-to-date version of Perl.   If
+you didn't get your Perl source from CPAN, check the latest version at
+<URL:http://www.perl.com/CPAN/src/>.
+
 The basic steps to build and install perl5 on a Unix system are:
 
 	rm -f config.sh Policy.sh
@@ -27,8 +31,6 @@
 	make
 	make test
 	make install
-
-Full configuration instructions can be found in the INSTALL file.
 
 For information on non-Unix systems, see the section on
 L<"Porting information"> below.

End of patch

From @jhi

M.J.T. Guy writes​:

Bob French writes​:

Why 5.005_02? because thats what showed at gnu.org at the time. I've gone to
the perl site and will give 5.005_03 a whirl.

This is far from the first time that someone has (possibly) wasted their
time by putting effort into an out-of date version. Would the
attached patch to INSTALL be a Good Thing?

I had a slight difficulty in choosing the URL to include. Ideally it
should lead somewhere which says authoritatively "Latest is 5.005_03".
The only authoritative source is CPAN; on CPAN this information is only
obviously available encoded in the URL itself

 http​://www\.perl\.com/CPAN/src/latest\_is\_5\.005\_03

and including that would be self-defeating. And also, if you do try
to look at that, you get a really exciting blank page. Should there
be a file somewhere (e.g. at http​://www.perl.com/CPAN/src/latest )
which contains just that statement?

Such as the http​://www.perl.com/CPAN/src/latest.tar.gz and
http​://www.perl.com/CPAN/src/latest.zip, explained in
http​://www.perl.com/CPAN/src/README...?

--
$jhi++; # http​://www.iki.fi/jhi/
  # There is this special biologist word we use for 'stable'.
  # It is 'dead'. -- Jack Cohen

From [Unknown Contact. See original ticket]

Jarkko Hietaniemi <jhi@​iki.fi> wrote

Such as the http​://www.perl.com/CPAN/src/latest.tar.gz and
http​://www.perl.com/CPAN/src/latest.zip, explained in
http​://www.perl.com/CPAN/src/README...?

Well, that's what the given URL gets you. But that exactly misses
my point, probably because I didn't express myself clearly.

The situation being addressed is where someone has got hold of
something labelled "Perl" and possibly also "latest" from, err,
perhaps Matt's Script Archive. The problem is that _every_
(production) version of Perl has the label "latest" at some point of
its life cycle. So we need to point to something which contains
the explicit numbers 5.005_03, to distinguish from all the other "latest"
versions.

The simplest fix would be if the README on CPAN/src contained somewhere
prominent the words "Latest is 5.005_03". And if this info was
automatically updated when the "latest" changes, of course.

Mike Guy

From [Unknown Contact. See original ticket]

M.J.T. Guy [mjtg@​cus.cam.ac.uk] quoth​:
*>
*>The simplest fix would be if the README on CPAN/src contained somewhere
*>prominent the words "Latest is 5.005_03". And if this info was
*>automatically updated when the "latest" changes, of course.

The people would might need that probably are the same crowd that don't
read README's. Also, on the top of www.perl.com is a banner saying
" Perl Versions​: Stable is 5.005_03. Devel is 5.005_62. "

If people care to look, I think the information is there...unless I missed
something here.

e.

From [Unknown Contact. See original ticket]

People,
Let me take a bow here, I was rushed and just grabbed
the version that was on the gnu page instead of going to CPAN and checking
out the README I usually do.

If anything I would suggest that the link on the GNU page just point you to
the perl source dir on CPAN and leave it to the user to get the right
version. The way it looks now you would think that 5.005_02 is the current
latest.

Anyway I've got 5.005_03 and I'll build it this evening

Thanks
-Bob French

-----Original Message-----
From​: Elaine -HFB- Ashton [mailto​:elaine@​chaos.wustl.edu]
Sent​: Wednesday, October 27, 1999 8​:53 AM
To​: M.J.T. Guy
Cc​: Bob French; perl5-porters@​perl.org
Subject​: Re​: [ID 19991025.007] Build Issues with perl5.005.2 on AIX
4.3.2.0

M.J.T. Guy [mjtg@​cus.cam.ac.uk] quoth​:
*>
*>The simplest fix would be if the README on CPAN/src contained somewhere
*>prominent the words "Latest is 5.005_03". And if this info was
*>automatically updated when the "latest" changes, of course.

The people would might need that probably are the same crowd that don't
read README's. Also, on the top of www.perl.com is a banner saying
" Perl Versions​: Stable is 5.005_03. Devel is 5.005_62. "

If people care to look, I think the information is there...unless I missed
something here.

e.

From @jhi

Bob French writes​:

People,
Let me take a bow here, I was rushed and just grabbed
the version that was on the gnu page instead of going to CPAN and checking
out the README I usually do.

If anything I would suggest that the link on the GNU page just point you to
the perl source dir on CPAN and leave it to the user to get the right

We be no GNU.

Though Perl is sometimes mistakenly said to be "GNUware", it isn't.

version. The way it looks now you would think that 5.005_02 is the current
latest.

Anyway I've got 5.005_03 and I'll build it this evening

Thanks
-Bob French

-----Original Message-----
From​: Elaine -HFB- Ashton [mailto​:elaine@​chaos.wustl.edu]
Sent​: Wednesday, October 27, 1999 8​:53 AM
To​: M.J.T. Guy
Cc​: Bob French; perl5-porters@​perl.org
Subject​: Re​: [ID 19991025.007] Build Issues with perl5.005.2 on AIX
4.3.2.0

M.J.T. Guy [mjtg@​cus.cam.ac.uk] quoth​:
*>
*>The simplest fix would be if the README on CPAN/src contained somewhere
*>prominent the words "Latest is 5.005_03". And if this info was
*>automatically updated when the "latest" changes, of course.

The people would might need that probably are the same crowd that don't
read README's. Also, on the top of www.perl.com is a banner saying
" Perl Versions​: Stable is 5.005_03. Devel is 5.005_62. "

If people care to look, I think the information is there...unless I missed
something here.

e.

--
$jhi++; # http​://www.iki.fi/jhi/
  # There is this special biologist word we use for 'stable'.
  # It is 'dead'. -- Jack Cohen

From @jhi

Bob French writes​:

People,
Let me take a bow here, I was rushed and just grabbed
the version that was on the gnu page instead of going to CPAN and checking
out the README I usually do.

If anything I would suggest that the link on the GNU page just point you to
the perl source dir on CPAN and leave it to the user to get the right

I'll ask the GNUfolk to fix the situation.

--
$jhi++; # http​://www.iki.fi/jhi/
  # There is this special biologist word we use for 'stable'.
  # It is 'dead'. -- Jack Cohen

From [Unknown Contact. See original ticket]

I know but you have a link from there and those of us that work with gcc and
other GNU tools tend to use it as a base page. Just a suggestion anyway

-----Original Message-----
From​: Jarkko Hietaniemi [mailto​:jhi@​iki.fi]
Sent​: Wednesday, October 27, 1999 3​:05 PM
To​: Bob French
Cc​: 'Elaine -HFB- Ashton'; M.J.T. Guy; perl5-porters@​perl.org
Subject​: RE​: [ID 19991025.007] Build Issues with perl5.005.2 on AIX
4.3.2. 0

Bob French writes​:

People,
Let me take a bow here, I was rushed and just grabbed
the version that was on the gnu page instead of going to CPAN and
checking
out the README I usually do.

If anything I would suggest that the link on the GNU page just point you
to
the perl source dir on CPAN and leave it to the user to get the right

We be no GNU.

Though Perl is sometimes mistakenly said to be "GNUware", it isn't.

version. The way it looks now you would think that 5.005_02 is the
current
latest.

Anyway I've got 5.005_03 and I'll build it this evening

Thanks
-Bob French

-----Original Message-----
From​: Elaine -HFB- Ashton [mailto​:elaine@​chaos.wustl.edu]
Sent​: Wednesday, October 27, 1999 8​:53 AM
To​: M.J.T. Guy
Cc​: Bob French; perl5-porters@​perl.org
Subject​: Re​: [ID 19991025.007] Build Issues with perl5.005.2 on AIX
4.3.2.0

M.J.T. Guy [mjtg@​cus.cam.ac.uk] quoth​:
*>
*>The simplest fix would be if the README on CPAN/src contained somewhere
*>prominent the words "Latest is 5.005_03". And if this info was
*>automatically updated when the "latest" changes, of course.

The people would might need that probably are the same crowd that don't
read README's. Also, on the top of www.perl.com is a banner saying
" Perl Versions​: Stable is 5.005_03. Devel is 5.005_62. "

If people care to look, I think the information is there...unless I
missed
something here.

e.

--
$jhi++; # http​://www.iki.fi/jhi/
  # There is this special biologist word we use for 'stable'.
  # It is 'dead'. -- Jack Cohen

From @jhi

Jarkko Hietaniemi writes​:

Bob French writes​:

People,
Let me take a bow here, I was rushed and just grabbed
the version that was on the gnu page instead of going to CPAN and checking
out the README I usually do.

If anything I would suggest that the link on the GNU page just point you to
the perl source dir on CPAN and leave it to the user to get the right

I'll ask the GNUfolk to fix the situation.

Ummm. From where, exactly, on the gnu page did you get the 5.005_02?

ftp.gnu.org​:/gnu/perl/ does have 5.005_03 (though named 5.005.03...)

<...> Hrrrm. If the timestamps do not lie the 5.005_03 has been
added there Oct the 26th, so maybe somebody else has complained.

As I said, we (the Perl developers) have no relation to the GNU project.
The GNU people control all the material and links at gnu.org sites,
we have nothing to do with that.

The only GNUish thing in Perl is that it is okay to distribute Perl
under the Gnu Public License.

--
$jhi++; # http​://www.iki.fi/jhi/
  # There is this special biologist word we use for 'stable'.
  # It is 'dead'. -- Jack Cohen

From [Unknown Contact. See original ticket]

This makes me wonder if the GNU folks have stale releases, how many other
sites do too. Perhaps it should be noted either in the readme or in
Configure that if you didn't get the source from CPAN or perl.com that you
might not have the latest stable release.

Just a thought.

e.