Perl5 inst packages for IRIX
ATTENTION: MANY POINTERS STALE AND INVALID FOR NON-IRIX 5.3 IMAGES.
These were archived from http://reality.sgi.com/scotth/info/perl5.html
Introduction
Perl5 is the latest version of Perl from the fertile mind of Larry Wall.
It is actually an entirely new object-oriented language that happens to be
>99% compatible with the Perl v4 language spec. This page links to
several pre-compiled inst-able versions of Perl5 for IRIX-5.2, 5.3, 6.2 and
later. This inst package is designed to install Perl5 so that it and Perl4
(for IRIX releases < 6.4) can live together on the same machine. IRIX
6.4 and later ship with Perl5. The 6.2 (and later) versions of the Freeware
inst packages also don't collide with the system Perl images.
The following versions of Perl5 are instable from here (I assume that
your browser handles tables...):
Product | Appropriate IRIX Release | Installation Location(s) | Size (Bytes) |
Perl 5.00502 (libperl.so) (**) | IRIX-6.2, 6.3, 6.4, 6.5+ | /usr/freeware | 16158720 |
Perl 5.00404 (libperl.so) | IRIX-6.2, 6.3, 6.4+ | /usr/freeware | 8847360 |
Perl 5.00404 (libperl.so) | IRIX-5.3, 6.1 | /usr/freeware | 8888320 |
Perl 5.003 (libperl.so) (*) | IRIX-6.2, 6.3, 6.4 | /usr/freeware | 5642240 |
Perl 5.003 | IRIX-6.2, 6.3, 6.4 | /usr/freeware | 6133760 |
Perl 5.003 (*) | IRIX-5.3, 6.1 | /usr/freeware | 6174720 |
Perl 5.002 | IRIX-6.2 | /usr/freeware | 7198720 |
Perl 5.002 | IRIX-5.3, 6.1 | /usr/freeware | 7229440 |
Perl 5.001m | IRIX-5.3, 6.1 | /usr/freeware | 5048320 |
Perl 5.001m | IRIX-5.2, 6.0* | /usr/local | 5109760 |
(*): This version includes the latest Perl Security
Advisory patch against 5.003. 5.004 does not contain the bug.
(**): This is the current Freeware release, also
available at freeware.sgi.com. It
is larger than the other distributions because 5.005 is bigger, and this
distribution contains versions compiled for all 3 ABIs: -32,
-n32, and -64. In addition, it contains versions
compiled with pthreads. It also comes with HTML-ified version of the docs
and man pages. Extensive testing has only been done on 6.2 and 6.5+.
All come with complete source. The non-Freeware Perl5.001m needs gzip
(either installing it here, or the one that comes with Netscape)
to unpack the source. All versions should work on IRIX-6.2, though I have
only tested a few. All of the 6.2 versions should work on IRIX-6.3, 6.4
and 6.5 (though I haven't tested very many combinations).
Disclaimer
This software is provided without support and without any obligation on
the part of Silicon Graphics, Inc. to assist in its use, correction,
modification or enhancement. There is no guarantee that this software will
be included in future software releases, and it probably will not be
included.
THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITH NO WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND
INCLUDING THE WARRANTIES OF DESIGN, MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A
PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR ARISING FROM A COURSE OF DEALING, USAGE OR TRADE
PRACTICE.
(This is the closest thing to a FAQ about perl on IRIX that I've written).
- Perl5 installs mostly into /usr/freeware/bin/
and /usr/freeware/lib/perl5/. The man pages install into
/usr/freeware/catman/. The Freeware Perl5.00{2,3,4} is
configured with /usr/freeware/lib/perl5/site_perl as the
site library, and the Freeware Perl5.001m is configured
with /usr/local/lib/perl5/ as the default site
library (in practice, this causes problems with leftovers from
previously installed versions of /usr/local Perl5).
- Every version listed will install and run on the IRIX release that
it was compiled for, and on all subsequent releases. eg: the perl
compiled for 5.2 will install and run correctly on 6.5. This is a
feature of IRIX, not the perl packages specifically.
The reverse is not true. A package will neither install nor run on
an earlier release than it was compiled for.
- This inst package is designed to install Perl5 so that it and the
perl installed with IRIX can coexist on the same machine. The
precise behaviour is dependent on both the package and the release
of IRIX. later packages make fewer assumptions about what the system
installed...
- IRIX 5.2 & 5.3
- /usr/bin/perl is perl v4.036, and is installed
from the eoe2.sw.gifts_perl or sgiperl
bits. They were not default install. The
/usr/bin/perl4 link may be created even if there
is no perl4 installed. The link /usr/bin/perl5 is
unconditionally created. Thus you can specifically call perl4
or perl5 independent of how your path is setup. Which one you
get as bare perl depends on where
/usr/freeware/bin is in your PATH.
- IRIX 6.2 & 6.3:
- /usr/bin/perl is perl v4.036, and is default
install, from the eoe.sw.gifts_perl subsystem. The
/usr/bin/perl4 link may be created even if there
is no perl4 installed. The link /usr/bin/perl5 is
unconditionally created. Thus you can specifically call perl4
or perl5 independent of how your path is setup. Which one you
get as bare perl depends on where
/usr/freeware/bin is in your PATH.
- IRIX 6.4 & 6.5+:
- /usr/bin/perl and /usr/bin/perl5 are
default installed: v5.003 in 6.4, and v5.004_04 in 6.5+. The
/usr/bin/perl4 link is unconditionally created in
some of the packages. This leaves the perl4 link pointing at
a perl5... The same packages may also unconditionally stomp
on the /usr/bin/perl5 link to point to the Freeware perl;
more recent ones do not. Which perl you get depends on your
PATH.
- For the Freeware Perl5.001m only, having
/usr/local/lib/perl5 in the default @INC
include path, and since previous versions of Perl5 were
probably installed there, you need to manually remove old Perl
versions, and old *.ph files (since they are generated
instead of installed, inst cannot remove them). For more
information, check out the release notes (which are in
HTML) after the system is installed: file:/usr/freeware/relnotes/fw_LWperl5.html
(note: that link will fail until you have installed the software).
- The latest version of the Freeware Perl5.003 for IRIX-6.2
w/shared lib (and all Perl5.004 versions) has been compiled
so that Perl is a shared library, and the actual Perl
binary is very small. The installation takes up less disk space (by
about .5MB). Also, the /usr/bin/perl4 symlink is only
created if /usr/sbin/perl is Perl4. The
/usr/bin/perl5 symlink is created only if
/usr/sbin/perl is not Perl5. This correctly handles
installing on all IRIX-6.x versions.
- All versions of Perl5 on this page unless otherwise noted
are compiled -32 (this is the 5.3-compatible
ABI). Most 3rd-party pre-compiled libraries (to link extensions)
come in this form. See the next bullet for more details.
- Perl5 now comes as a standard part of IRIX, starting with 6.4. The
Freeware Perl5 w/shared libperl versions are designed to not
conflict with IRIX Perl5 also. There is good reason that you may
want to have both the IRIX Perl5 and the Freeware Perl5 installed at
the same time. Starting with version 6.1, IRIX supports 3 ELF ABI
interfaces: -o32 is the same 32bit ABI as in IRIX-5.x,
and is deprecated. The 2 new ABIs use the full 64bit register set of
the R4000 and later processors: -n32 uses 32bit pointers
to save memory (and simplify porting), and -64 uses 64bit
pointers when you need the address space. In IRIX-6.4 and later, the
system default changes to -n32, including Perl. You
cannot link -o32 and -n32 objects together,
either statically or dynamically. Currently, many 3rd-party vendors
only provide -o32 libraries that you might want to link
into Perl. You will not be able to create those modules with the
IRIX Perl. You will need the Freeware Perl to create those
extensions. As long as you put the correct interpreter path
in your scripts (ie: /usr/freeware/bin/perl vs
/usr/sbin/perl when using compiled extensions), things
should work transparently.
- While there is new management support to keep Perl and other
freeware more up-to-date in IRIX, new releases of Perl will usually
show up in Freeware before they show up in an IRIX release. The
Freeware perl will normally support ABIs that the IRIX perl does
not, even when they are the same Perl version. Due to the
asynchronous nature of Freeware vs IRIX releases, they will never
share files.
- Perl is designed such that multiple ABIs ("architecture"s) and
multiple versions can share the same directory tree. Creating
symlinks to put all the site_perl directories in the same place can
simplify managing locally installed modules and extensions.
- Each perl installation is complete. You can install new modules from
CPAN or elsewhere just as if you compiled and installed perl
yourself. You wil simplify your life if you use the full path to each
perl binary when configuring a module. eg:
/usr/freeware/bin/perl5.00502-n32 Makefile.PL installman3dir=/usr/local/man/man3
Note that compiled modules will require the SGI C compiler.
There is no reason that I know of that GCC cannot be used, but you
will have to figure out and manually deal with the different
compiler options.
Installation Instructions
If you are running IRIX-5.3 or IRIX-6.2 and Netscape, you could already
have the tardist
method installed. Tardist is standard in IRIX-6.3 and later. Follow these
instructions for installing tardist, and
then you can just install perl5 automatically via tardist:
All of these images should run fine on upcoming IRIX-6.x releases,
though I have not had a chance to verify them on all versions.
The Freeware perl5.001 has a few additional bug fixes for
better operation under IRIX. The old one is still available in case you
want it for any reason.
If you don't have tardist, you can install things the "old fashioned way":
Create a directory on any host which you can access without having to enter
a password -- if you can rcp or cp (mounted or automounted directories)
from the directory, you can inst from it. Let's call the directory on host
serv in directory /var/tmp/dist. Then unpack the tar
file placed in /usr/tmp for this example):
# cd /var/tmp/dist
# tar -xf /usr/tmp/fw_perl5.tardist
Then on any (SGI) host that you want to install perl5 (see your software
installation guide for more assistance):
% su -
# inst -f serv:/var/tmp/dist
<inst commands>
# exit
% rehash
Support
Questions or problems with Perl5 should be addressed to the perl support
sources, such as the newsgroup comp.lang.perl.misc, the Perl FAQ or
the CPAN (Comprehensive Perl Archive
Network) site. You can address questions about the installation package
itself to me: Scott Henry
<scotth@sgi.com>. I don't have any plans to supply pre-configured
extensions and modules...
Author:
Scott Henry
<scotth@sgi.com>
Last modified: Wed Apr 25 10:50:58 2001