Re^12: Recalcitrant placeholders (updated x2)

[Bod]

I can now reproduce the issue reliably!

Thank goodness!
I was beginning to think I was going mad :)

Thank you for investigating this with so much energy and perseverance.

Perl 5.16.3 is now over 8 years old and no longer supported. You may want to ask your webhost to upgrade their Perl.

I have asked before and the answer has always been no...
If I want a later version of Perl they say, I need to change from shared hosting to either VPS or a dedicated server.

My yearly shared webhosting contract ends at the start of November so I guess now is about the time to make the overdue switch to VPS.

My concerns about VPS are that I don't have the time to manage it if (when) anything goes wrong plus the very real possibility that I could break something essential. With shared hosting, the inner workings of the webserver are shielded from me and I am just left to deal with my own code. With a VPS or dedicated server, much more could go wrong!

Perhaps I should buy a cheapish refurbed PC and install some flavour of Linux on it. That way I get to find my way around a bit more before making the switch to VPS. It would also give me something to test things on before touching the live webserver...

[haukex]

I have asked before and the answer has always been no...

Well, you could always try providing them with this list of links...

• Security fixes in Perl 5.18 (releases 2013-2014)
• Security fixes in Perl 5.20 (releases 2014-2015)
• Security fixes in Perl 5.22 (releases 2015-2017)
• Security fixes in Perl 5.24 (releases 2016-2018)
• Security fixes in Perl 5.26 (releases 2017-2018)
• Security fixes in Perl 5.28 (releases 2018)
• Security fixes in Perl 5.32 (releases 2020-2021)

With shared hosting, the inner workings of the webserver are shielded from me and I am just left to deal with my own code. With a VPS or dedicated server, much more could go wrong!

I completely understand. There are still shared webhosts out there that have better support, though - e.g. my own site and PerlMonks are both hosted by Pair.

[Bod]

There are still shared webhosts out there that have better support

I use UK2 and have done for about 25 years...(nearly) all my domains are registered through them so having hosting in the same place sort of makes sense and I hadn't even considered moving hosting company. Probably because it sounds like it could be a faff - I shall look into what is really involved, or I might just bite the bullet and get a VPS!

choices, choices and more choices...

[haukex]

I use UK2 and have done for about 25 years...(nearly) all my domains are registered through them so having hosting in the same place sort of makes sense and I hadn't even considered moving hosting company. Probably because it sounds like it could be a faff - I shall look into what is really involved, or I might just bite the bullet and get a VPS!

Yes, moving domains around isn't always the easiest thing. Note that there is no technical requirement for domain names and web servers to be hosted by the same company (sometimes there are contractual requirements), that's how I do it - keeping the domain registered through a well-established company means that switching hosting providers doesn't require domain transfers. OTOH, having an all-in-one provider is of course nice too, provided they actually offer the services you need, which your current provider doesn't really - installing a newer Perl isn't shouldn't be a big deal.

choices, choices and more choices...

Very true... I could of course tell you a few hosting providers in Germany (Strato is a big one and from Berlin.pm I know there are a few Perl guys working there), but unfortunately I don't know about the UK.