Re: [MacPerl-Porters] Re: portability.pm (was Re: 1 while unlink "file")

> I think that you would be hard pressed to find a Unix programming shop
> using RCS that would want their chosen scripting language making such
> policy decisions for them automatically.
> 
> Using the construct:
> 
>    unlink($file);
> 
> works for most cases on Unix and VMS implementations of perl and changing
> it to:
> 
>    1 while unlink($file);
> 
> may help to keep VMS temp files a bit tidier, but in most cases is
> unnecessary (note that the C<1 while> prependage does not harm the
> file system semantics of Unix or Windows or MacOS).
> 
> I think that Perl in this regard already has an effective compromise
> between the drastically different file systems that it has to run on.
> I think that adding a version glob to unspecified unlink() arguments runs
> counter to the data protection philosophy behind VMS' RMS (Record
> management Services).  BTW Schwern's proposal was only to add
> "convenience" to writing test scripts.  He specifically mentioned that he
> did not want to alter the Perl programming language.

Rest assured that we are not going to make such drastic policy changes.

There are plenty of open more relevant portability issues to worry
about in both VMS and Mac platforms to choose from in case people
have extra time in their hands.

-- 
$jhi++; # http://www.iki.fi/jhi/
        # There is this special biologist word we use for 'stable'.
        # It is 'dead'. -- Jack Cohen