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Date:      Wed, 20 Mar 1996 08:34:00 -0600
From:      Tony Kimball <alk@Think.COM>
To:        gclarkii@main.gbdata.com
Cc:        current@freefall.freebsd.org
Subject:   Re: perl4
Message-ID:  <199603201434.IAA19341@compound>
In-Reply-To: <199603200802.CAA10056@main.gbdata.com> (message from Gary Clark II on Wed, 20 Mar 1996 02:02:16 -0600 (CST))

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   From: Gary Clark II <gclarkii@main.gbdata.com>

   Perl IS the sys admin language of choice.  Many systems now ship perl
   with the distribution like we do.  Thats why I brought it in.

The fact is not at issue.  The relationship between the fact 
and the decision is being questioned.

   > If I write C versions of these scripts, will that suffice
   > to break perl off into a package?

   Not really, not unless you will also re-write ALL future scripts also.
   I'm in the process of a total rewrite for adduser to expand it into
   a sysadmin system (add user, delete user, groups, change user attributes, etc).
   This will be a curses based system.

It can go into the perl package:  A perl4 version in the perl4
package, if you want to support perl4; a perl5 version in the perl5
package, if you want to support perl5.  It's a good thing.  I
encourage and commend you.  It does not belong in the base OS
distribution.  

   P.S. Sorry for the slight flamage, but I still belive we need perl.

I absolutely agree that we need perl (or more accurately that "FreeBSD
needs perl").  I claim that it does not belong in the base OS, because
it is not tightly coupled, and because most perl users will use the
most recent version, and *not* the version shipped, so it is a legacy,
baggage.

Making the base OS small is a Good Thing.  Making it independent of
the choice of perl version level is a Good Thing.  The point is to
give users the freedom to choose, rather than forcing them to remove
perl by hand in order to eliminate an abhorrent redundancy.  Would you
require that XF86 be bundled as well?  Mi genoito!

My cause is just, because my cause is the cause of freedom.  My
detractors are the agents of totalitarianism.  I regret only that
I have but one life to give in the cause of component orthogonality.






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