Bug#683495: perl scripts: "#!/usr/bin/perl" MUST or SHOULD?

[Ansgar Burchardt <ansgar@debian.org>]

Package: debian-policy
Version: 3.9.3.1

Policy is not consistent about the requirement that perl scripts need to
use "#!/usr/bin/perl" and not, for example, "#!/usr/bin/env perl".

Policy 10.4 says "In the case of Perl scripts this should(!) be
#!/usr/bin/perl", but it's a hard requirement in the Debian Perl Policy
(5.1): "All packaged perl programs must(!) start with #!/usr/bin/perl
and may append such flags as are required".

(Okay, one can argue that Policy 11.9 only says packages SHOULD follow
the Perl policy.)

I have no strong opinion about this being a hard requirement or not, but
see the recent discussion on debian-perl@ [1].

Ansgar

[1] <https://lists.debian.org/debian-perl/2012/07/msg00138.html>