xref: /openbsd/gnu/usr.bin/perl/README.linux (revision e0680481)
1# vim: syntax=pod
2
3If you read this file _as_is_, just ignore the funny characters you
4see.  It is written in the POD format (see pod/perlpod.pod) which is
5specifically designed to be readable as is.
6
7=head1 NAME
8
9perllinux - Perl version 5 on Linux systems
10
11=head1 DESCRIPTION
12
13This document describes various features of Linux that will affect how Perl
14version 5 (hereafter just Perl) is compiled and/or runs.
15
16=head2 Deploying Perl on Linux
17
18Normally one can install F</usr/bin/perl> on Linux using your distribution's
19package manager (e.g: C<sudo apt-get install perl>, or
20C<sudo dnf install perl>). Note that sometimes one needs to install some
21extra system packages in order to be able to use CPAN frontends, and that
22messing with the system's perl is not always recommended. One can use
23L<perlbrew|https://perlbrew.pl/> to avoid such issues.
24
25Otherwise, perl should build fine on Linux using the mainstream compilers
26GCC and clang, while following the usual instructions.
27
28=head2 Experimental Support for Sun Studio Compilers for Linux OS
29
30Sun Microsystems has released a port of their Sun Studio compilers for
31Linux.  As of May 2019, the last stable release took place on 2017, and one can
32buy support contracts for them.
33
34There are some special instructions for building Perl with Sun Studio on
35Linux.  Following the normal C<Configure>, you have to run make as follows:
36
37    LDLOADLIBS=-lc make
38
39C<LDLOADLIBS> is an environment variable used by the linker to link
40C</ext> modules to glibc.  Currently, that environment variable is not getting
41populated by a combination of C<Config> entries and C<ExtUtil::MakeMaker>.
42While there may be a bug somewhere in Perl's configuration or
43C<ExtUtil::MakeMaker> causing the problem, the most likely cause is an
44incomplete understanding of Sun Studio by this author.  Further investigation
45is needed to get this working better.
46
47=head1 AUTHOR
48
49Steve Peters <steve@fisharerojo.org>
50
51Please report any errors, updates, or suggestions to
52L<https://github.com/Perl/perl5/issues>.
53
54