Anonymous Monk has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

I am going to put Perl on my new web server.

Should I load Perl 5.8.8 and what is the advantage of ActiveState or regular version?

Should I load Perl 6.0 or whatever the latest version is? I assume latest version of Perl has more modules.

Please advise.

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: New Perl on server
by davorg (Chancellor) on Jul 26, 2006 at 12:51 UTC

    Perl 6 doesn't exist yet. The most recent production-ready version of Perl is 5.8.8. The front page of perl.org always lists the current version.

    If your web server is running Unix or Linux then it will almost certainly already have a version of Perl installed. If your web server is running Windows, then ActivePerl is probably the easiest version to use (although Vanilla/Strawberry Perl might well change that).

    --
    <http://dave.org.uk>

    "The first rule of Perl club is you do not talk about Perl club."
    -- Chip Salzenberg

[reply]
      although Vanilla/Strawberry Perl might well change that

      It may, but not yet. Neither is ready for production use, but please do consider trying them out in development environments and offering feedback.

      -xdg

      Code written by xdg and posted on PerlMonks is public domain. It is provided as is with no warranties, express or implied, of any kind. Posted code may not have been tested. Use of posted code is at your own risk.

[reply]
Re: New Perl on server
by duc (Beadle) on Jul 26, 2006 at 13:30 UTC
    I am using Perl under Windows and I can tell you Perl 5.8.8 ActiveState works fine. I have made some really interesting applications with it and a bunch of tools. And there is always a easy-to-use module to help out. But if you're using Linux or Unix, it is a different matter I guess.
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Re: New Perl on server
by lorn (Monk) on Jul 26, 2006 at 13:48 UTC
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Re: New Perl on server
by swampyankee (Parson) on Jul 26, 2006 at 17:18 UTC

    As said by duc, ActiveState's port works well. It also has a reasonable set of modules for Windows. I've not used Indigo Perl, PXPerl, or any of the other Windows ports of Perl listed in http://www.cpan.org/ports/#win32.

    Do not base the decision of which version of Perl to installed based on the number of modules. Modules can always be added later, using CPAN.

    You could, of course, compile from source. Nonetheless, I think your best choice would be to use ActiveState's port. Just don't install a beta version.

    emc

    Login incorrect.
    Only perfect spellers may
    enter this system.

    Jason Axley
[reply]
      Do not base the decision of which version of Perl to installed based on the number of modules. Modules can always be added later, using CPAN.

      Save that modules that need a C compiler cannot always be added via the CPAN module/program in Windows, due to the lack of said compiler.

      ----Asim, known to some as Woodrow.

[reply]
        Sheesh!

        Whadda you want for free! Everything? Of course, it is all free!

        Activestate's distribution is usually compiled with VC++6 which can be had for the simple cost of just a little bandwidth from Microsoft.

        jdtoronto

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        I realize that not all Windows boxes have C compilers. Conversely, one could reasonably expect a developer to be able to find and install one of Microsoft's command-line C++ compilers (as jdtoronto mentioned, they're free), gcc (also free), or spend a few dollars (less than $100 USD) to install Visual Studio C++.

        emc

        Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.

        Groucho Marx
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