nsPerl: A Binary Distribution of Dynamic Perl

Related Links

How to unpack downloaded files
Windows software to unpack downloaded files (CNET : Downloads : Utilities : File Compression)
Other binary distibutions of Perl
Standard Perl source code (from which nsPerl was built)
CPAN

Known Bugs

The glob function doesn't work on Windows 95.

On Unix, nsPerl can't be installed in a directory whose full name contains spaces or tab characters. The `install` program will fail, with output (to stderr) like this:

/bin/foo bar/nsPerl5.005_03/lib/sun4-solaris/nsPerl/instruct: bar/nsPerl5.005_03/lib/sun4-solaris:/bin/foo is not supported

If nsPerl is installed in a directory whose full name contains spaces (like C:\Program Files), CPAN modules can't be added to it in the usual way.  (It seems MakeMaker doesn't support spaces in pathnames.)  CPAN modules work fine if there's no whitespace in nsPerl's pathname.

Revision History

Each download file name contains (in order) the version of Perl, the version of the installer software, and the platform on which it was built. The download file name is mentioned in the README file, in the top-level installed nsPerl directory.


• nsPerl*-12-sun4-solaris* (and later) use Solaris' malloc(); older versions used the malloc() supplied with Perl 5.  Also, these versions are built on Solaris 2.6; older versions were built on Solaris 2.5.1.



• nsPerl*-12-MSWin32* (and later) correct some errors in Perl scripts; specifically, older versions of bin/*.bat attempted to run a nonexistent Perl interpreter in F:\LOCAL.  Older versions of config.h also contained similar names of nonexistent directories.



• nsPerl*-11-MSWin32* (and later) generate a `reconfigure.bat` script that works when nsPerl is installed in a directory whose name contains whitespace.  (On Unix, nsPerl can't be installed in a directory whose name contains whitespace.)



• nsPerl*-10-* (and later) can be installed under a Unix automounter name or symlink (by running the `install` script with its fully-qualified name under the desired alias).  This is necessary for sharing nsPerl between several users who see it in different directories; for example, sharing nsPerl via AFS, or differently-configured automounters.



• nsPerl*-9-* (and later) include a `reconfigure` script, which we hope is easier to use than the `reconfigure.pl` Perl script on which it is based.



• nsPerl*-8-* (and later) reconfigure all the pathnames in Config.pm, on Windows.  Previous versions would reconfigure pathnames containing either "/" or "\", but not both. This caused various errors, including:

  C:\yourhome\nsPerl5.005_03>.\nsperl lib\MSWin32-x86\nsPerl\reconfigure.pl myhostname=fred
  Can't read C:\yourhome\nsPerl5.005_03\WINNT\lib\nsPerl5.005_03\lib\MSWin32-x86\Config.pm: No such file or directory
  Can't read C:\yourhome\nsPerl5.005_03\WINNT\lib\nsPerl5.005_03\lib\MSWin32-x86\Config.pm: No such file or directory



• nsPerl*-7-* (and later) output a reassuring message from the install script, to confirm that installation is complete.



• nsPerl*-5-MSWin32* (and later) can be installed on Windows 95, and/or inside C:\Program Files (or other directories whose pathnames contain space characters). Previous versions could not be installed on Windows 95, nor in such directories.


Our heartfelt thanks to the users who helped us find and fix bugs in nsPerl, and apologies to those who were afflicted by them.

Legal Notices

Perl is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of either:
• the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, or
• the Artistic License.
Portions of nsPerl are subject to the Netscape Public License Version 1.1 (the "License"); you may not use those files except in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at http://www.mozilla.org/NPL/

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND WITHOUT ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.