perl-doc vs perldoc vs Perldoc

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

Since switching up to 5.10 some time ago, I have never been able to get 'perldoc' to work. So I finally decided to ask arround about what has happened.

Below are snippets from a recent attempt

[~]> perldoc -f sysread
You need to install the perl-doc package to use this program.
[~]> 
-----------
cpan[4]> i /perl-doc/
No objects found of any type for argument /perl-doc/
----------
cpan[5]> install Perldoc
Perldoc is up to date (0.20).

cpan[6]> 
-----------
root@vblap:~# grep doc  /usr/local/lib/perl/5.10.0/perllocal.pod
=head2 Sat Jan  2 09:41:23 2010: C<Module> L<Perldoc|Perldoc>
C<EXE_FILES: perl-doc>
root@vblap:~# 
----------
[~]> perl-doc -f sysread
'-f' is an invalid option

Usage: perl-doc [options] [input-file]

Options:

    -v --version   - Print version of perl-doc
    --kwid-to-html - Convert input file or STDIN from kwid to html
[~]>
[download]

So what do I need to doto get '#perldoc -f sysread' to work?

It is always better to have seen your target for yourself, rather than depend upon someone else's description.

Comment on perl-doc vs perldoc vs Perldoc Download Code

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: perl-doc vs perldoc vs Perldoc by skx (Parson) on Jan 02, 2010 at 15:40 UTC
In this context you're using Debian (ubuntu?) and the error message says: You need to install the perl-doc package to use this program. This is telling you to install the distros "perl-doc" package - not a package from CPAN. Assuming Debian/Ubuntu you'd run "apt-get install perl-doc" to install the package, after which "perldoc" will work. Steve --	[reply]
Re: perl-doc vs perldoc vs Perldoc by ikegami (Patriarch) on Jan 02, 2010 at 16:35 UTC
The perl documentation normally comes with Perl. Your linux distributor installed a basterdised version of the perl — they removed the documentation — and they're letting you know how to add it back. You need to use their package manager.	[reply]
Re: perl-doc vs perldoc vs Perldoc by Anonymous Monk on Jan 03, 2010 at 03:59 UTC
Try cat `which perldoc` it should look like `$ perldoc -m perldoc #!/usr/bin/perl require 5; BEGIN { $^W = 1 if $ENV{'PERLDOCDEBUG'} } use Pod::Perldoc; exit( Pod::Perldoc->run() );` [download]	[reply] [d/l] [select]