in reply to Arguements for upgrading from Perl 5.8

I would really like to get the production machine moved to 5.10

There are arguments for and against upgrading, but upgrading to software that's been end-of-lifed? I think that's a waste of time.

  • Comment on Re: Arguements for upgrading from Perl 5.8

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re^2: Arguements for upgrading from Perl 5.8
by dlarochelle (Sexton) on Nov 17, 2011 at 21:58 UTC
    Thanks for pointing that out ikegami, I wasn't aware that Perl 5.10 had been end-of-lifed.

    The reason I was thinking of Perl 5.10 was because that's the version that the latest Ubuntu LTS (10.4/Lucid) supports. Upgrading to a non-LTS version of Ubuntu means you only get support for a year and then have to upgrade again.

    Installing a local version of Perl separate from the Ubuntu repos is possible but not ideal.
[reply]

      Upgrading to a non-LTS version of Ubuntu means you only get support for a year and then have to upgrade again.

      It just goes to show that using the distro's Perl places the choice of whether to upgrade or not out of your control. Sometimes, it's ok to be at the mercy of another company. Sometimes it's not. I can't answer that for you, but asking the question you are asking seems to indicate it's not.

      (Previous paragraph rewritten based on better understanding of quoted line.)

      Installing a local version of Perl separate from the Ubuntu repos is possible but not ideal.

      I think it's *much* better than the alternative. Three major advantages:

      • You don't have to run the same OS and OS version on every machine.
      • You can upgrade or not upgrade Perl independently of other upgrades to the machine.
      • You can test your application with a new installation of Perl while still having the old version installed. This allows you to make sure the machine is setup correctly risk-free, and it allows switching to the new Perl without any downtime.
[reply]

In Section Seekers of Perl Wisdom