Others told you that there is no Perl compiler. There are some packagers, and they all suck, some more, some less. Using them for security is a really stupid idea. (See also Re: Protection for Perl Scripts and Re^2: Where should I have configuration information in a file or database.)

Using them to deliver an application is simply stupid, for reasons you have explained yourself: You are limited to a single combination of platform. If your clients use a mix of 32 and 64 bit systems running *BSD, Solaris, various Linux distrubutions, Windows, MacOS X, you have to build a separate bundle for each of these systems, and for all packagers I know (remotely), you need to have a working instance of the target system.

In contrast, deliver a cpan-installable source archive (*.tar.gz), make the cpan utility install the sources, and you are done with a single archive for all platforms. For systems that lack a sane perl installation (Windows), deliver or point your users to a perl installer for their system. The Java folks handle the problem in nearly the same way. You are expected to install a JRE version, unless your system already includes one. Only after that, you may use Java-based applications. Some software packages come with an installer that installs the JRE more or less silently, so the user does not have to install the JRE separately.

Of course, you can also omit using the cpan utility and use a DIY installer script. Bugzilla takes this way (checksetup.pl), and I did something similar some years ago.

Alexander

--
Today I will gladly share my knowledge and experience, for there are no sweeter words than "I told you so". ;-)

In reply to Re: Best perl compiler?? by afoken
in thread Best perl compiler?? by diamondsandperls

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