Variant perls (was Re: Working Group Proposal)

Perhaps we could adopt a TeX-like strategy: 

  * Any executable called "perl" must be 100% conformant, standard,
    passes the "trip tests."

  * Any modified version of perl -- whether because certain features
    have been omitted or because certain modules are "compiled in" --
    must be called something else. "siteperl" or "microperl" or
    what-have-you.

This way, we can satisfy both requirements:

  * Any perl script should be able to rely on a uniform feature set
    in the perl executable.

  * Sometimes it's useful to have a stripped-down or extended perl.
    (Go right ahead, just don't call it perl.)


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Andrew M. Greene  [email protected]  617.520.8337  www.greenehouse.com
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"With type as with philosophy, music and food, it is better to have a little
       of the best than to be swamped with the derivative, the careless, the
            routine" -- Robert Bringhurst, The Elements of Typographic Style