# NAME

win32 - Perl for Win32 Overview

# Perl 5 for Win32

This is the second major release of the Perl 5 language for the Win32 Platform. The original target platform was Windows NT 3.51, but this has been expanded to include Windows 95. Perl 5 for Win32 is a straight port from the Unix version of perl5.003_07, with extra Win32 specific functionality provided via module extensions.

Perl for Win32 was ported by ActiveWare Internet Corp. The goal of this project was to preserve as much functionality of the Unix version as possible in order to maintain compatiblity with the wealth of perl scripts available on the Internet.

# Legalese

Win32-specific portions of the source code for Perl for Win32 are copyrighted by Microsoft Corporation under the terms of the Artistic License that is supplied with Perl.

# Information Sources

There are a few Win32 specific sources of information available for Perl, most of them being maintained by ActiveWare Internet Corp.

Perl-Win32-User and Perl-Win32-Announce mailing lists
  These are mailing lists that reside at `ActiveWare.com`. To join the discussion for Perl-Win32-Users or Perl-Win32-Announce, send an email to `ListManager@ActiveWare.com` with the single line "JOIN Perl-Win32-Users" or "JOIN Perl-Win32-Announce" within the body of the message.

  The Perl-Win32-Users mailing list is devoted to discussion relating specifically to Perl for Win32. Relevant issues include differences between basic functionality in Perl for Win32 and Perl on Unix platforms, Win32 specific extensions, and porting issues. For general help regarding programming in perl, please refer to the newsgroup comp.lang.perl.misc.

Perl for Win32 WWW Homepage
  This site contains the latest archived information regarding Perl for Win32 including a FAQ list with answers. The URL for the site is `http://www.ActiveWare.com/`.

General Sources of Information
  There is are a handful of newsgroups devoted to the perl programming language, they are:

              comp.lang.perl.announce - Announcements (moderated)
              comp.lang.perl.misc     - General Discussion
              comp.lang.perl.tk       - Tk extensions

  The comp.lang.perl.tk newsgroup is probably of little use to users of Perl for Win32, but the other two are indispensable sources of information.

  The authoritative source for any and all Perl related-material is the CPAN (Comprehensive Perl Archive Network). Material stored by CPAN includes archives of the comp.lang.perl.* newsgroups, source code for various incarnations of perl and its extensions, extensive documentation, etc.

  CPAN is mirrored at the following ftp sites, please select the one that is topographically or electronically closest to you:

          Africa
            South Africa
              ftp://ftp.is.co.za/programming/perl/CPAN/
          Asia
            Japan
              ftp://ftp.lab.kdd.co.jp/lang/perl/CPAN/
            Taiwan
              ftp://dongpo.math.ncu.edu.tw/perl/CPAN/
          Australasia
            Australia
              ftp://coombs.anu.edu.au/pub/perl/
              ftp://ftp.mame.mu.oz.au/pub/perl/CPAN/
            New Zealand
              ftp://ftp.tekotago.ac.nz/pub/perl/CPAN/
          Europe
            Finland
              ftp://ftp.funet.fi/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/
            France
              ftp://ftp.ibp.fr/pub/perl/CPAN/
              ftp://ftp.pasteur.fr/pub/computing/unix/perl/CPAN/
            Germany
              ftp://ftp.leo.org/pub/comp/programming/languages/perl/CPAN/
              ftp://ftp.rz.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/pub/programming/languages/perl/CPAN/
            Great Britain
              ftp://ftp.demon.co.uk/pub/mirrors/perl/CPAN/
            the Netherlands
              ftp://ftp.cs.ruu.nl/pub/PERL/CPAN/
            Portugal
              ftp://ftp.ci.uminho.pt/pub/lang/perl/
            Sweden
              ftp://ftp.sunet.se/pub/lang/perl/CPAN/
            Switzerland
              ftp://ftp.switch.ch/mirror/CPAN/
          North America
            Florida, USA
              ftp://ftp.cis.ufl.edu/pub/perl/CPAN/
            Illinois, USA
              ftp://uiarchive.cso.uiuc.edu/pub/lang/perl/CPAN/
            Massachusetts, USA
              ftp://ftp.delphi.com/pub/mirrors/packages/perl/CPAN/
            Oklahoma, USA
              ftp://ftp.uoknor.edu/mirrors/CPAN/
            Texas, USA
              ftp://ftp.sedl.org/pub/mirrors/CPAN/
              ftp://ftp.sterling.com/programming/languages/perl/

  The Perl FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) list with answers is available at `ftp://ftp.cis.ufl.edu/pub/perl/faq/FAQ`. Chances are that if you have a question regarding perl, it has already been answered before in this document. Please consult the FAQ before you pose a question to any of the newsgroups or mailing lists, it will help to both cut down in the turnaround time needed for you to obtain the desired information, and it will also cut down the unecessary clutter in the aforementioned fora.