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in reply to Re^5: Stop suggesting to upgrade perl
in thread Stop suggesting to upgrade perl

Do you have any method for demonstrating 'truthfulness' in your statement (below) that you "can't ask them (users) to upgrade" from an obsolete version?
See OP. Most of those who runs linux have outdated version of Python, Ruby and Perl. And they used to use Perl, Ruby and Python software without upgrading all their stuff.
BTW and FWIW, the fact that RH says it will support 5.8 until 2017 for RHEL5 does NOT mean RH will cure the bugs
Yes, only security fixes are guaranteed. And they sometimes backport bugfixes.

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Re^7: Stop suggesting to upgrade perl
by bitingduck (Chaplain) on Sep 03, 2013 at 03:20 UTC

    See OP. Most of those who runs linux have outdated version of Python, Ruby and Perl. And they used to use Perl, Ruby and Python software without upgrading all their stuff.

    As does every version of MacOS X. Many versions of MacOS come with two Perls, at least one of which is used by many system functions, is known to be outdated, and some of those system functions depend on the bugs of the outdated version, which is why you shouldn't muck with it.

    All of that is why it's recommended that you install your own Perl (or even multiple versions of your own Perl) so that a) you don't bork the system Perl by updating some module or other, and b) don't have your programs borked when the system decides to overwrite versions that you're depending on when you do a system version upgrade. The same applies for Ruby and Python. I work mostly in Perl and Ruby, and I have my own installs of both on my dev machines and on the production servers.

    So recommending an upgrade that fixes a some bugs or adds some features shouldn't be that big of a deal. And I find that Perl is much more robust during upgrades than Ruby-- I can usually move to a later version of Perl and have bugs be fixed without breaking working code. Ruby, not so much.

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Re^7: Stop suggesting to upgrade perl
by ww (Archbishop) on Sep 01, 2013 at 15:54 UTC

    para 2 (ie, your "See OP. Most of those ...." is irrelevant to the discussion and does NOT answer the question.

    and "they sometimes backport bugfixes." So?
    I guess "sometimes" is the operative word (AKA 'polecat in the wood pile') and it undermines many of your prior arguments.

    Above is my last comment in this thread: I'm down to debating the number of angels who can dance on the head of a pin... and the point-counterpoint is beyond ridiculous already.

    but, update: fixed missing close-quote. clarified question by adding "So"

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