in reply to Linux vs. Windows for Learning Perl

The reason that I don't use the ActiveState Perl I have on some machines is that I have no idea how to install modules on it.

Downloading and installing perl modules on a Unix system is almost always a piece of cake.

  1. download
  2. gunzip
  3. tar -xvf
  4. perl Makefile.PL
  5. make
  6. make install
There must be a way to do it in Windows but I don't know what that way is. Since non-trivial Perl development usually requires a CPAN module or two, I would think that it is well worth the trouble to install a Linux distribution using some of the spare space on a Windows machine. (For ease of installation and hardware compatibility I recommend Mandrake Linux 7.2, which you can even buy for under $25 at Wally World these days.)

Update:Thanks everyone for pointing out that the way I have been installing packages for the past few months or so is not the easiest or best way. I should use ppm which I can learn about here.

  • Comment on Re: Linux vs. Windows for Learning Perl

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: Re: Linux vs. Windows for Learning Perl
by arturo (Vicar) on Mar 02, 2001 at 04:35 UTC
    whispers "PPM"
[reply]
Re: Re: Linux vs. Windows for Learning Perl
by PsychoSpunk (Hermit) on Mar 02, 2001 at 05:25 UTC
    There's an even easier way to do it in Unix.

    ALL HAIL BRAK!!!

[reply]
      ppm install DBI

                vs.

      perl -MCPAN -e "install DBI" (and hope it compiles and such)

      Sorry...which one was easier? :)

[reply]
        When everything works exactly as planned, assuming that you have no interest in trying to figure out what is going on, etc, etc, etc, Windows does indeed succeed in making life easier.

        In the real world I find that those simple successes pretty much take care of themselves. And there Unix leaves you in much better shape to detect that there is a problem and resolve it in situations where Windows delivers you to a blank wall.

        The fact that you are getting Perl, for free, with the ability to go look at the source and learn from it is very much a product of an attitude that comes from the Unix world, not Windows.

[reply]
        mothra no doubt that it's a lot easier to type 'ppm install DBI'. That's not my point. Notice I said there's an easier way to do it in Unix. That's based against the fact that sierrathedog04 is currently downloading tarball, perl Makefile.PL...

        Instead of me typing all the commands only to learn that I need module-X before distribution-Z can be installed, perl -MCPAN -e "install Bundle::LWP" finds everything I need and installs it for me, with relative ease, I might add.

        ALL HAIL BRAK!!!

[reply]

In Section Meditations