in reply to Compiling Perl

Usually I've found that when someone says "yes, I really need to do this" and doesn't provide an explanation, further digging often reveals that the person's problem has a much simpler and better solution than the proposed one.

So, I have to ask "why". Quite often, it turns out that a person's reasons for doing something, once explained, leads to different and better solutions for what they are trying to accomplish. Further, if you're just doing this to protect your intellectual work, you may wish to consider a programming language more suitable for that than Perl. In the Perl community, you are given a programming language and lots and lots of help for free. As a result, if you turn around and hide your source code, it's often frowned upon.

Also, Perl compilers are generally not terribly good. I don't know why your code is up to 20MB, but you should be aware that the entire Perl interpreter is embedded in the compiled version (which is required, due to the way Perl works).

So, if you explain why you want to do this, maybe we can help you find an easier solution.

Cheers,
Ovid

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Re: (Ovid) Re: Compiling Perl
by cjf (Parson) on Mar 22, 2002 at 01:02 UTC
    In the Perl community, you are given a programming language and lots and lots of help for free. As a result, if you turn around and hide your source code, it's often frowned upon.

    I hear a lot of people complaining about businesses failing to adopt Perl. These people give many reasons for why this is, ranging from lack of certifications to the fact that certain other languages have huge corporations backing them. These are all valid, but often what is left out is the attitude of many members of the Perl community.

    I agree with you that there are often far better options than compiling Perl, but the attitude that developers owe their code to the community does not benefit Perl or free software at all, it only serves to prevent some businesses from considering Perl as an option.

[reply]

      cjf++

      Thanks for clearing up a rather ambiguous point that I raised and inadvertently suggested that I agree with. I was just stating the position that many adopt. Many strongly object to trying to "hide" source merely to hide the source.

      Personally, I don't have strong feelings on it one way or another. I do feel strongly that if someone takes from the community, one should give back. I don't think this necessarily means giving back one's code. Donating to the Perl foundation or hanging out at the Monastery and helping other's are two very worthwhile methods of giving back.

      Cheers,
      Ovid

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