Subject: Perl 5.004 is available
From: [email-masked] (Chip Salzenberg)
Date: 20 May 1997 17:54:19 GMT
Newsgroups: comp.lang.perl.announce,comp.lang.perl.misc

The Perl development team is pleased to announce the release of Perl 5.004.

You should be able to install and use this release of Perl under almost all
families, mutations, and imitations of UNIX, as well as VMS, OS/2, QNX,
LynxOS, AmigaOS, Plan 9, and Windows NT.  If this release of Perl is built
under Windows NT, it can also be used under Windows 95.

It is *vital* that you read the file "INSTALL" before building this
release; it contains information you absolutely need to know.  For example,
"INSTALL" explains how you can install Perl 5.004 without removing previous
version(s) of Perl, and how you can make Perl 5.004 binary-compatible with
Perl 5.003 (and why you have a choice).

There are several new functions and features in Perl 5.004, including a
small number of unavoidable incompatibilies.  See the change notices for
details, in the file "pod/perldelta.pod".  It is *highly* recommended that
you read "pod/perldelta.pod" before using this release if you have any
previous experience with Perl.

If you find a bug, please report it to us with the "perlbug" script in the
"utils" directory of the distribution.  Since you may have older versions
of "perlbug" installed, run it as "./perl utils/perlbug"; to display its
documentation, use the "-h" flag.  If you cannot send external E-Mail from
your development platform, you can still use "perlbug" to prepare the bug
report and save it to a file, which you should then mail to
<[email-masked]>.

If Perl didn't even compile, then you won't be able to use "perlbug".
Instead, compose your bug report by hand, being sure to include the output
of the "myconfig" shell script included in the distribution, and mail it to
<[email-masked]>.

We re-emphasize: *Please* read "INSTALL" and "pod/perldelta.pod".  We are
happy to answer questions, but our time is limited.  By reading the
excellent documentation included with Perl before asking for help, you will
save yourself time, you will save us time, and you will help us debug the
documentation.

NOTE: One user-visible bug in Perl 5.004 was found between the creation of
Perl 5.004 and its announcement.  A bug fix will be posted separately.

You will find this release on CPAN, the Comprehensive Perl Archive Network.
The following URL at Tom Christiansen's web server (perl.com) will
automatically direct your request to a CPAN FTP site appropriate for your
location:

    http://www.perl.com/CPAN/src/5.0/perl5.004.tar.gz

If you wish to retrieve the file entirely with HTTP, you can use this URL
at The Perl Institute (perl.org):

    http://www.perl.org/CPAN/src/5.0/perl5.004.tar.gz

Finally, to quote Douglas Adams: "Share and enjoy!"

	Signed,

	The Perl Development Team

-- 
Chip Salzenberg          - a.k.a. -            <[email-masked]>
    "Most organizations reward individuals and groups that
     choose to re-invent the wheel."  -- Bjarne Stroustrup