[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]
[Search]
[Date Index]
[Thread Index]
[MacPerl] Latest Q&A
Please study this document carefully, especially if you plan to unsubscribe
in the near future. I get several unsubscription requests a week sent to the
list address instead of the request address. Recently, two of those requests
were also misspelled, so the list processor couldn't catch them.
*Please* send you requests to the right address, spelled correctly. You
wouldn't want to flaunt your illiteracy in front of 700 people, would you?
One other change is that I have started de-emphasizing MacPerl 4. Whatever
bugs are left in MacPerl 5.0.6 seem to be less severe than the shortcomings
of 4.1.8.
Questions and Answers about MacPerl
Table of contents
General questions
1) How can I get this document?
2) Where can I get real information about MacPerl?
3) What is MacPerl and where can I get it?
4) How do I subscribe/unsubscribe from the MacPerl mailing list?
5) How do I send an article to the MacPerl mailing list?
6) Is there a searchable archive of the MacPerl mailing list?
7) How many people are using MacPerl?
Working with MacPerl
8) Why don't my droplets work?
9) Is there a collection of MacPerl scripts anywhere?
10) Is it possible to develop CGI scripts for MacHTTP using MacPerl?
Further Development
11) When will there be a stable version of MacPerl5?
12) When will there be a multithreaded/OSA Perl?
Questions
1) How can I get this document?
Well, you have it, don't you? You could always ask me for a copy by
email. The cool new way to get an updated version is by WWW in
"http://err.ethz.ch/members/neeri/macintosh/perl-qa.html". Should
further information (e.g., the manual), become available online in the
future, you'll find it on "http://err.ethz.ch/members/neeri/macintosh/perl.html".
2) Where can I get real information about MacPerl?
Luckily, a few brave MacPerl users have started filling the huge gaps
in the MacPerl documentation.
Sandra Silcot publishes a MacPerl primer at http://www.unimelb.edu.au/~ssilcot/macperl-primer/home.html,
and also by ftp at
ftp://www.unimelb.edu.au/pub/cwis/tools/macintosh/MacPerl-PRIMER-1.1.sea.hqx
Hal Wine publishes the MacPerl FAQ which can be retrieved at ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/ha/hal/MacPerl/
during the times of day Netcoms ftp server is not overloaded by users
downloading credit card information.
3) What is MacPerl and where can I get it?
MacPerl is a port of Larry Wall's Perl (Practical Extraction and
Report Language) to the Apple Macintosh.
The most recent versions of MacPerl are always available in
ftp.switch.ch software/mac/perl
This site is mirrored at
ftp.share.com pub/macperl
mors.gsfc.nasa.gov /pub/MacPerl/Applications
and in a huge number of CPAN (Common Perl Archive Network) mirror sites:
Florida
ftp://ftp.cis.ufl.edu/pub/perl/CPAN/ports/mac/
Illinois
ftp://uiarchive.cso.uiuc.edu/pub/lang/perl/CPAN/ports/mac/
Massachusetts
ftp://ftp.delphi.com/pub/mirrors/packages/perl/CPAN/ports/mac/
Oklahoma
ftp://ftp.uoknor.edu/mirrors/CPAN/ports/mac/
Texas
ftp://ftp.sedl.org/pub/mirrors/CPAN/ports/mac/
ftp://ftp.sterling.com/programming/languages/perl/ports/mac/
Finland
ftp://ftp.funet.fi/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/ports/mac/
France
ftp://ftp.ibp.fr/pub/perl/CPAN/ports/mac/
ftp://ftp.pasteur.fr/pub/computing/unix/perl/CPAN/ports/mac/
Germany
ftp://ftp.leo.org/pub/comp/programming/languages/perl/CPAN/ports/mac/
ftp://ftp.rz.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/pub/programming/languages/perl/CPAN/ports/mac/
Great Britain
ftp://ftp.demon.co.uk/pub/mirrors/perl/CPAN/ports/mac/
The Netherlands
ftp://ftp.cs.ruu.nl/pub/PERL/CPAN/ports/mac/
Portugal
ftp://ftp.ci.uminho.pt/pub/lang/perl/ports/mac/
Sweden
ftp://ftp.sunet.se/pub/lang/perl/CPAN/ports/mac/
Switzerland
ftp://ftp.switch.ch/mirror/CPAN/ports/mac/
Australia
ftp://coombs.anu.edu.au/pub/perl/ports/mac/
ftp://ftp.mame.mu.oz.au/pub/perl/CPAN/ports/mac/
New Zealand
ftp://ftp.tekotago.ac.nz/pub/perl/CPAN/ports/mac/
Japan
ftp://ftp.lab.kdd.co.jp/lang/perl/CPAN/ports/mac/
Taiwan
ftp://dongpo.math.ncu.edu.tw/perl/CPAN/ports/mac/
South Africa
ftp://ftp.is.co.za/programming/perl/CPAN/ports/mac/
The current version of MacPerl is 5.0.6r1m and is available in the
above directories as:
- Mac_Perl_506r1m_appl.bin.
- Mac_Perl_506r1m_tool.bin.
- Mac_Perl_506r1m_src.sit.bin.
4) How do I subscribe/unsubscribe from the MacPerlmailing list?
Send mail to mac-perl-request@iis.ee.ethz.ch whose BODY (the Subject is
ignored) is the word "subscribe" or "unsubscribe".
5) How do I send an article to the MacPerl mailinglist?
Articles sent to mac-perl@iis.ee.ethz.ch are automatically sent to the
list. If you have an article that you have severe doubts whether it should
be distributed, send it to mac-perl-approval@iis.ee.ethz.ch. I will
read your article, and will send it to the list unless I think I can
answer it exhaustively and neither the question nor the answer are of
general interest. Note that I'm severly backlogged in my mail and sending
articles to -approval adds to my work load.
6) Is there a searchable archive of the MacPerl mailing list?
Yes! Sandra Silcot has dedicated the time and resources to build one at
http://www.its.unimelb.edu.au:801/hma/pub/macperl/.
7) How many people are using MacPerl ?
As with most free software, this is hard to say. There are now almost
700 subscribers to the mailing list, and version 4.1.8 has been
downloaded thousands of times from ftp.switch.ch alone (in August
1995, I counted close to 800 downloads).
8) Why won't my droplets work?
Due to a bug in MacPerl 4.1.8, droplets only work if you have
AppleScript installed. This bug was fixed in MacPerl 5.
9) Is there a collection of MacPerl scripts anywhere?
I'm building one in ftp://ftp.switch.ch/software/mac/perl/scripts/, but I don't have much
time to invest. If you have any interesting scripts to offer, send me
(neeri@iis.ee.ethz.ch) a
mail. If you have a whole collection of scripts on your own ftp site,
tell me and I'll set up a mirror.
10) Is it possible to develop CGI scripts for MacHTTP using MacPerl?
Yes. You'll need the MacHTTP CGI Script extension, which is available in
ftp://err.ethz.ch/pub/neeri/MacPerlBeta/ as "PCGI". The latest version, "PCGI_06Feb96.sit.hqx", is largely compatible with the Unix CGI specification.
11) When will there be a stable version of MacPerl5?
5.0.6 looks pretty good, I think.
12) When will there be a multithreaded/OSA Perl?
I have not worked out all technical details yet; June 1996?
Last changed: 11Feb96