Good point on use vs. required.

For version strings to be non-backward-compatible, they would have to not support the previous method for doing versions strings. The previous method looks like "5.005_03", and this is still supported by use and require. If use only supported the new syntax, then that would not be backward compatible.

Future versions of Perl supporting something old is called backward compatability. The "future" vs. "backward" adjective must be applied to the scripts (data), not to the inerpreter (program) in order to match the "compatability" adjective.

Alternately, you could say that your script that does use 5.6; isn't backward compatible. And you'd be right to be upset about that, but you have to blame the script author not the Perl developers for that. (:

        - tye (but my friends call me "Tye")