On Jun 8, 2005, at 9:41 AM, Janet Goldstein wrote:
People would use ActivePerl for OS X for the same reason Windows users use ActivePerl
Windows users use ActivePerl because Windows doesn't ship with Perl.
they need to execute Perl scripts for one reason or another but can't cope with the command line.
... which is the only alternative on Windows. On Mac OS X, there *is* an alternative, which is to use the Perl that came with the OS. The choice isn't between installing ActivePerl and building Perl from source; it's between installing ActivePerl and doing nothing at all.
Even those who have the knowledge to build Perl from source, as I have many times, welcome the convenience of binaries. Also, ppm is somewhat easier to use than CPAN.pm.
The best reason to use ActivePerl on Mac OS X is, I think, PPM. Lots of people have trouble compiling modules from source; using PPM means you don't have to do that.
sherm-- Cocoa programming in Perl: http://camelbones.sourceforge.net Hire me! My resume: http://www.dot-app.org
