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I prefer not to run the latest version of Perl because:

by hippo (Bishop)
on Feb 01, 2023 at 12:21 UTC ( [id://11150066]=poll: print w/replies, xml ) Need Help??

Vote on this poll

There is too much technical debt in my codebase
[bar] 8/13%
The stability of the system Perl suits me better
[bar] 13/21%
I have to support users of some ancient version
[bar] 4/6%
I'm stuck with ActiveState/TinyPerl/microperl/Strawberry ...
[bar] 11/18%
Letting the early adopters trip over the bugs is fine
[bar] 10/16%
Some other reason
[bar] 16/26%
62 total votes
Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: I prefer not to run the latest version of Perl because:
by syphilis (Archbishop) on Feb 01, 2023 at 14:04 UTC
    Yay!! ... congrats hippo ... it made it !!
    When we say "latest version" are we talking about latest "stable release" ? ... or latest "devel release" ? ... or current "blead" ?

    I generally run the latest "devel release" because, if there's a problem brewing re the OS/compiler combo that I use or with any of the modules that I maintain, then I want to know about it "toot sweet". One thing I've learned over the years, on Windows, is that you can't trust p5p.
    A more committed perl programmer would probably be recompiling perl from git source every time a new commit was made, but I don't have the energy for that.

    My best guess is that I actually do prefer to run "the latest version of Perl" and that I am therefore unable to cast a truthful vote.

    Luckily, voting is not compulsory here !!!

    Cheers,
    Rob
      "I actually do prefer to run "the latest version of Perl" and that I am therefore unable to cast a truthful vote."

      Ditto -- no vote cast.

      I suggested a way to handle this situation in "Re^2: poll ideas quest 2023 (perl version)": "an option should be provided for those with the opposite preference".

      — Ken

        And it was a good suggestion (as were some others). Unfortunately I've been busy and did not have time to collate/deploy all those good suggestions before the poll idea suddenly became a live poll. Sorry about that.

        In case anyone was wondering, the inspiration for the poll was Re^5: help with "symbol lookup error" message by syphilis.


        🦛

        It's a pity there's no "abstain" option, as I also prefer to run the latest stable release. However, I have 5.32 on this machine in my home office (Windows 10 box with Strawberry Perl) and I'm stuck with 5.16.3 on my shared hosting - one day I will change to VPS and have something a little more modern!

        I agree. Running an up-to-date version of Perl makes sense to me, too. I would have to upgrade eventually, come what may. Might as well upgrade to a version that is actively supported and still accepting bug reports and has the latest security fixes.

        PerlMonks XP is useless? Not anymore: XPD - Do more with your PerlMonks XP
      The next poll could be the inverse of this one, i.e. "I prefer to run the latest version of Perl because ..." if yourself or anyone else would like to fill in the options.
        "I prefer to run the latest version of Perl because ..." if yourself or anyone else would like to fill in the options

        Whoooo...oot !!! Don't wind me up !:
        * I'm not an idiot
        * I'm not a pea-brain
        * I'm not stupid
        * ...
        * I'm not a dickhead
        * I'm not stupid
        * Ooops, we've already had that last one ... but who cares ??
        * I'm not dumb
        * ....

        And please remember that, at the Monastery, the first Friday in every month is "TIC Friday", and that every Friday (in every month) is "Alcohol-fuelled Friday".
        Admittedly, there are some parts of the world where it's not yet Friday. Catch up, you lot ;-)

        Cheers,
        Rob
Re: I prefer not to run the latest version of Perl because:
by Discipulus (Canon) on Feb 01, 2023 at 13:08 UTC
    I always go for Strawberry portable and when, I hope soon, they come out with a new version I download it and add to my looong list of perl distros.

    But I'm lazy too and currently my main perl is 5.26 tagged December 2018 :) too much modules to reinstall, basically, but if I want to try some new feature I have my 5.32 at disposition.

    If I had the oppurtunity to code Perl profesionally I'd try to be very near to the latest Perl version, let say last but one: in this case the opportunity to explore and use newer features would be a nice and exciting gymnastic.

    L*

    There are no rules, there are no thumbs..
    Reinvent the wheel, then learn The Wheel; may be one day you reinvent one of THE WHEELS.
      I am even lazier. I only have one distro. Installing a new Strawberry is easy enough, but reinstalling modules until all my applications work again is a task a do not take lightly. I have little incentive to learn new features which I probably will not even use. When I see new features used effectively in this forum, it is time to reconsider.
      Bill
Re: I prefer not to run the latest version of Perl because:
by Anonymous Monk on Feb 02, 2023 at 01:23 UTC
    I prefer not to run the latest version of Perl because:

    Today's latest and greatest software contains tomorrow's zero day exploits. Seriously though compiling Perl and thousands of modules takes time. That being said I use 5.26.2 because it's solid and has 12,986 modules installed.

    I aim for the lowest score possible on perlver anyway which is always 5.6.0 because of the warnings pragma. Without warnings all my modern perl runs on 5.4.0 and probably down to the OG 5.002b3. I have never needed new features Larry didn't invent to get anything done with Perl so I probably wouldn't have noticed if they stopped development in 2000 to focus on making sure Perl continued to rule the world.

    But alas we needed to impress the competition with features they still ignore, like lexical variables, so the web could be rewritten in php and python that resembles Perl 4. Now that we have the spectacular gift of Perl::Dist::APPerl I can fiddle with 5.36.0 by downloading a 25MB binary for instant fun times on Unix, Mac and Windows!

    computoid.com/APPerl/#RELEASES

      I use 5.26.2 because it's solid and has 12,986 modules installed.

      You have 12,986 modules installed? That's ... impressive. Only leaves the remaining two thirds of CPAN to go!


      🦛

        You have 12,986 modules installed? That's ... impressive. Only leaves the remaining two thirds of CPAN to go!

        12,986 includes every single thing in @INC that looks like a module with 1,851 CPAN distributions installed. 1,578 of those only contain pod (like AnyEvent::FAQ) plus 11,408 code modules. Obviously 12,986 sounds more impressive than 1,578 so I went with the hyperbole.

        I can't reply directly to jdporter's completely accurate accusation of *stealing*. I have definitely seen the signature before but must have forgotten that and actually thought I came up with it! I was going to leave out the "and greatest" part because it seemed more fluent but included it for unknown reasons. I guess my unconscious mind values accuracy. The human mind is amazing and most of what it does is totally unconscious. Please excuse my inadvertant theft of your awesome quote.

      Today's latest and greatest software contains tomorrow's zero day exploits.

      *stealing*

      Today's latest and greatest software contains tomorrow's zero day exploits.
Re: I prefer not to run the latest version of Perl because:
by parv (Parson) on Feb 02, 2023 at 19:57 UTC

    If I were to find system perl to be 5.8, then I certainly would try to install latest version available.

    There have not been any significant changes for me to chase the latest version. So current default package version, 5.32.1, on FreeBSD has been fine by me; default of 5.26.3 on Rocky Linux 8 is not bad either. Any version currently being maintained, thanks to cavac for reminding me to be particular about the maintained version, since 5.16+ has been good enough.

    Then again have not been using Perl as much since ~2017, none for work, so🤷🏽‍♂️

      If I were to find system perl to be 5.8, then I certainly would try to install latest version available.

      If I were to find system perl to be 5.8, then I would be looking to upgrade the O/S. An outdated perl is unlikely to be the most dangerous problem on such an old system.


      🦛

        There exist situations where an upgraded OS is simply not compatible with good old software. These systems may be connected to legacy hardware that cannot be easily upgraded or replaced. These systems have worked for decades and are not connected to the network. These systems often predate monumentally stupid ideas like automatic updates, embedded spyware, and software subscriptions. Rather than blindly telling everyone to upgrade it would be more useful to help maintain legacy compatibility of retro systems that you may not even understand the reasons for existing. Thank you!
Re: I prefer not to run the latest version of Perl because:
by eyepopslikeamosquito (Archbishop) on Feb 01, 2023 at 23:37 UTC

    While I'm happy to build my own perl on Linux, as I did the other day to try out the experimental perl 5.36 for_list feature, I feel much less inclined to do that on Windows, where I've come to rely on good old Strawberry.

    The mysterious (to me) disappearance of the hyper-productive adamk, an immense driving force behind Strawberry and author of 188 CPAN distributions, is a huge loss to the Perl community. Though I hope he returns to the Perl universe, that is looking increasingly unlikely.

Re: I prefer not to run the latest version of Perl because:
by duelafn (Parson) on Feb 02, 2023 at 13:42 UTC

    System perl is good enough and requires no work.

    Good Day,
        Dean

Re: I prefer not to run the latest version of Perl because:
by roho (Bishop) on Feb 04, 2023 at 05:41 UTC
    I'm waiting for "perl2exe" to be made available by IndigoStar Software for the latest version of Perl.

    "It's not how hard you work, it's how much you get done."

      I'm waiting for "perl2exe" to be made available...

      I fiddled with a version of that a very long time ago and had completely forgotten about it!
      Thanks for the reminder...

      Although, if it isn't very up to date then perhaps I shouldn't do too much with the reminder.

        Agreed. "perl2exe" is matched to specific versions of Perl. The latest Perl version that perl2exe supports is 5.30.x.

        "It's not how hard you work, it's how much you get done."

Re: I prefer not to run the latest version of Perl because:
by swampyankee (Parson) on Feb 24, 2023 at 01:36 UTC

    Bah!

    <codger> Who wants to use all that modern stuff?

    The don't make any good language these days. Grumble, grumble. </codger>


    Information about American English usage here.

    Floating point issues? Please read this before posting. — emc

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