# Perl 5.18



## idaho-axe (Jun 8, 2013)

I tried with 9.1 amd64 to use *P*erlbrew to get *P*erl 5.18 and it failed. Anyone here have 5.18 *P*erl going? How?


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## ShelLuser (Jun 8, 2013)

idaho-axe said:
			
		

> I tried with 9.1 amd64 to use perlbrew to get perl 5.18 and it failed.


That doesn't really tell us anything. How did it 'fail', what have you tried (options and such, although I know next to none about perlbrew)?

I'm also wondering why you didn't grab the tarball yourself?



			
				idaho-axe said:
			
		

> Anyone here have 5.18 perl going?


Well, not really "going" because I already use a Perl version which I got from the ports collection, so I have no intention to mess up my system.

I did got curious though, so I basically grabbed the tarball (see link up there), configured it (using the configure.gnu script) and this is the result:


```
$ ./perl -v

This is perl 5, version 18, subversion 0 (v5.18.0) built for amd64-freebsd
```
My advice would be simple: if you need a little bit of hand holding (no offense intended here) then you may be better of sticking with the ports collection. But if you do insist to go "bleeding edge" then you should really take it all the way. So I'd suggest simply grabbing the tarball straight from Perl.org, read and follow the instructions and you should be quickly set. You might want to install it into a directory of its own though (I don't know, /usr/local/perl18 or something) and set your environment accordingly. That way you can always move back if need be.

However, I would like to stress out that you might want to re-consider. After all, all I did was a mere `$ ./configure.gnu && make` to get the results you see up there. It will take a lot more to get this to replace your current Perl version safely.


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## idaho-axe (Jun 8, 2013)

*I*nteresting, so you did not use the port, but the *P*erl tarball and bsd BSD make? *H*m*.*


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## ShelLuser (Jun 8, 2013)

idaho-axe said:
			
		

> interesting, so you did not use the port, but the perl tarball and bsd make? hm


To my knowledge there is no port yet for Perl 5.18. The latest version seems to be lang/perl5.16. As such I grabbed the tarball, but it's also why I would advice to wait for a port to appear.

In the mean time I did find out about devel/p5-perlbrew, but from it's description I get the impression it might be more suitable for Linux environments. Simply because I basically did the same thing (build Perl in my home directory, but without installing).


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## idaho-axe (Jun 8, 2013)

*Y*eah*.*

*S*ee it*'*s a problem where it seems even you need a bit of hand holding*.*


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## ShelLuser (Jun 8, 2013)

Most likely true. As I hinted at; I can easily manage to build this thing to be used within my home directory. But trying to get the rest of my system to use it (Apache, AWStats, Midnight Commander, Spamassassin (very important program for me) or even Webmin (idem)), now that's something else..

Unless you have a specific reason for 5.18 I'd really advice you to stick with the lang/perl5.16 port for the time being. Easier to setup, much easier to maintain.


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## idaho-axe (Jun 8, 2013)

ShelLuser said:
			
		

> Most likely true. As I hinted at; I can easily manage to build this thing to be used within my home directory. But trying to get the rest of my system to use it (Apache, AWStats, Midnight Commander, Spamassassin (very important program for me) or even Webmin (idem)), now that's something else..
> 
> Unless you have a specific reason for 5.18 I'd really advice you to stick with the lang/perl5.16 port for the time being. Easier to setup, much easier to maintain.



*D*id you leave out `make test`, `make install`? I am running the `configure.gnu && make`, and some part of me wonders why *GNU* on *BSD*, but ok*.*

I need no advice on version numbering, just how to get 5.18 going examples.


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## ShelLuser (Jun 10, 2013)

Obviously I left out `make install` because as mentioned above: I didn't really feel like trashing my system, I'm happy with my current version of Perl.

As to the question on how to get version 5.18 going; I think I provided enough examples for now. In short: follow the manual, recompile every bit of software on your system which relies on Perl and you should be all done.

Personally I think the best approach here is:


```
# cd /usr/ports/lang/perl5.16
# make install clean
```
And be done with it.

And I'm going to leave it at that because it seems you have other issues to worry about right now.


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