On Wed, 2004-03-31 at 14:36 +0100, Vittorio wrote: > On my dual-boot (linux debian & win xp) box under linux I have installed > debian testing and the deb perl 5.6 packages boxed with the debian > distribution. > > Now, using perl both under linux and win xp I've installed activestate perl > 5.8 under M$ win and it looks great! > > The same activestate site offer a debianized perl-5.8 package which is > installed under usr/local/bin. > > In the opinion of more experienced users than I am is there any advantage for > me to install activestate perl instead of the standard deb packages? > > Can both versions of perl coexist? > > If I install activestate perl, could I eliminate the boxed debian perl > packages (to avoid duplication, of course) or they're essential for the > installation? (Note: I've never used the AS Perl in anything but Windows, so this is all theoretical.) Nothing SHOULD break. I've never had any AS-specific Perl problems (at least none that I can recall off the top of my head). The problem would be with dependencies. The AS Perl package would have to 'Provides' the Perl packages that it's replacing. As the default package probably doesn't do this, you'd have to create your own metapackage to handle this for you. (Take a look at the equivs program.) Outside of this, I would wonder why you'd want to use AS Perl when you don't have to. AFAIK, ActiveState's license is NOT GPL-compliant. As such, I'd much rather use the GPL licensed version of Perl instead of a non-free alternative. -- Alex Malinovich Support Free Software, delete your Windows partition TODAY! Encrypted mail preferred. You can get my public key from any of the pgp.net keyservers. Key ID: A6D24837
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