This isn't a problem of multiple development team! Note that from a Perl version to another much things changes, specially the bug fixes! Always try to use a newer version of Perl (stable). If you want a very stable use Perl-5.6.1. And note that we are in Perl-5.8.0, and Perl-5.8.1 is comming to fix some bugs in the previous.

Note that Perl-5.1 is from before 1995!!! I can't find exactly the year. Perl-5.3 is from 1996! Use at least Perl-5.4 in linux, and on Win32 Perl-5.6.1. See that the source Perl-5.1 doesn't exist in CPAN for download, and you only can find it with old old old RPMs! In other words, don't use it.

What you should know is that Perl5 is one language, Perl4 other, and Perl6 will be another. So, from Perl-5.1 to Perl-5.2 the changes are like from 1.0 to 2.0 in other softwares! From 5.6.1 to 5.8 (the release versions, since 5.7 was dev) much much things have changed, like PerlIO and specially thread!

Update: On linux you can install mutiple versions of Perl! You don't need to update the old, just install the new in other place, or in the same place if the architecture of Perl was comipled to mantain multiple versions, but I don't know if 5.1 already have this resource.

Graciliano M. P.
"The creativity is the expression of the liberty".

In reply to Re: Inconsistencies between Perl versions by gmpassos
in thread Inconsistencies between Perl versions by Tanalis

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