CPAN navigation: CPAN/src/
Source code for a production release of perl which has seen heavy use over at least a few months, or which has only minimal changes relative to such a release. This means it is very unlikely to have serious problems. If you would rather be running a perl with stable features and probably fewer bugs than the latest version, then this version is the one you need. A UNIX-style tar archive compressed by GNU zip (gzip).
Source code for the latest development release of perl. This code has new features and bug fixes relative to the version in stable.tar.gz; however, it has not been in use for so long, and so has more bugs that we do not know about. If this does not worry you, this is the version for you. If it does worry you, then you need stable.tar.gz.
The same thing as stable.tar.gz, except in the form of a PC-style ZIP archive. That means CR-LF line endings.
The same thing as devel.tar.gz, except in the form of a PC-style ZIP archive. That means CR-LF line endings.
Once you've downloaded one of these archives and unpacked it, you need to use it to build a binary for your system, then test and install it. The file README in the distribution gives license information and brief instructions; the file INSTALL gives comprehensive instructions. If you have a non-UNIX system, see also README.yoursystem -- for example, README.win32.
Tar archive containing the file you are reading. Formerly (before Perl 5.005) this file used to contain the latest maintenance release of Perl (very much like the stable.tar.gz described above). The development cycle of the Perl changed, however, so that there are more than one "latest" release (at least one maintenance track and at least one development track). Because of these multiple tracks a single "latest" would be too ambiguous. We apologize for the confusion and suggest that you grab either the "stable" release or the "devel" release, depending on how adventurous you feel.
The same thing as latest.tar.gz, except in the form of a PC-style ZIP archive.
Source archives for all releases of perl5. You should only need to look here if you have an application which, for some reason or another, does not run with the current release of perl5. Be aware that only 5.004 and later versions of perl are maintained. If you report a genuine bug in such a version, you will probably be informed either that it is fixed in the current maintenance release, or will be fixed in a subsequent one. If you report a bug in an unmaintained version, you are likely to be advised to upgrade to a maintained version which fixes the bug, or to await a fix in a maintained version. No fix will be provided for the unmaintained version.
Source archives for development versions of perl. Don't touch these unless you enjoy being at the bleeding edge of technology.
Source archives for all maintenance releases of perl5.004 and later. (There was no maintenance release mechanism for earlier releases of perl.)
Path to patch files needed to adapt particular perl releases for use with Japanese character sets.
Discussion of the meanings of the endings of filenames (.gz, .ZIP and so on). Read this file if you want to know how to handle a source code archive after you've downloaded it.
This file.
Third-party and other add-on source packages needed in order to build certain perl configurations. You do not need any of this stuff to build a default configuration.
Source code archives for several recent production releases of perl.
This is where we hid the source for perl4, which was superseded by perl5 years ago. We would really much rather that you didn't use it. It is definitely obsolete and has security and other bugs. And, since it's unsupported, it will continue to have them.
Files relevant to the CERT Advisory CA-97.17.sperl, a security problem found in 'suidperl' back in 1997. The problem was found both in Perl 4.036 (the final) (and last) release of Perl 4 and in early versions of Perl 5 (pre-5.003). The bug affects you only if you use an executable called 'suidperl', not if you use 'perl'. These files will help you in the (very unlikely) case you need to use (the obsolete and unsupported) Perl 4 or the early Perl 5s.
Corrections? Additions? Suggestions? Please contact cpan@perl.org. Other questions? See the CPAN FAQ.