perlhist - the Perl history records
This document aims to record the Perl source code releases.
Perl history in brief, by Larry Wall:
Perl 0 introduced Perl to my officemates.
Perl 1 introduced Perl to the world, and changed /\(...\|...\)/ to
/(...|...)/. \(Dan Faigin still hasn't forgiven me. :-\)
Perl 2 introduced Henry Spencer's regular expression package.
Perl 3 introduced the ability to handle binary data (embedded nulls).
Perl 4 introduced the first Camel book. Really. We mostly just
switched version numbers so the book could refer to 4.000.
Perl 5 introduced everything else, including the ability to
introduce everything else.
Larry Wall, Andy Dougherty, Tom Christiansen, Charles Bailey, Nick Ing-Simmons, Chip Salzenberg, Tim Bunce, Malcolm Beattie, Gurusamy Sarathy, Graham Barr.
[from Porting/pumpkin.pod in the Perl source code distribution]
Chip Salzenberg gets credit for that, with a nod to his cow orker, David Croy. We had passed around various names (baton, token, hot potato) but none caught on. Then, Chip asked:
[begin quote]
Who has the patch pumpkin?
To explain: David Croy once told me once that at a previous job, there was one tape drive and multiple systems that used it for backups. But instead of some high-tech exclusion software, they used a low-tech method to prevent multiple simultaneous backups: a stuffed pumpkin. No one was allowed to make backups unless they had the ``backup pumpkin''.
[end quote]
The name has stuck. The holder of the pumpkin is sometimes called the pumpking (keeping the source afloat?) or the pumpkineer (pulling the strings?).
Pump- Release Date Notes
king (by no means
comprehensive,
see Changes*
for details)
===========================================================================
Larry 0 Classified. Don't ask.
Larry 1.000 1987-Dec-18
1.001..10 1988-Jan-30
1.011..14 1988-Feb-02
Larry 2.000 1988-Jun-05
2.001 1988-Jun-28
Larry 3.000 1989-Oct-18
3.001 1989-Oct-26
3.002..4 1989-Nov-11
3.005 1989-Nov-18
3.006..8 1989-Dec-22
3.009..13 1990-Mar-02
3.014 1990-Mar-13
3.015 1990-Mar-14
3.016..18 1990-Mar-28
3.019..27 1990-Aug-10 User subs.
3.028 1990-Aug-14
3.029..36 1990-Oct-17
3.037 1990-Oct-20
3.040 1990-Nov-10
3.041 1990-Nov-13
3.042..43 1990-Jan-??
3.044 1991-Jan-12
Larry 4.000 1991-Mar-21
4.001..3 1991-Apr-12
4.004..9 1991-Jun-07
4.010 1991-Jun-10
4.011..18 1991-Nov-05
4.019 1991-Nov-11 Stable.
4.020..33 1992-Jun-08
4.034 1992-Jun-11
4.035 1992-Jun-23
Larry 4.036 1993-Feb-05 Very stable.
5.000alpha1 1993-Jul-31
5.000alpha2 1993-Aug-16
5.000alpha3 1993-Oct-10
5.000alpha4 1993-???-??
5.000alpha5 1993-???-??
5.000alpha6 1994-Mar-18
5.003alpha7 1994-Mar-25
Andy 5.000alpha8 1994-Apr-04
Larry 5.000alpha9 1994-May-05 ext appears.
5.000alpha10 1994-???-??
5.000alpha11 1994-???-??
Andy 5.000a11a 1994-Jul-07 To fit 14.
5.000a11b 1994-Jul-14
5.000a11c 1994-Jul-19
5.000a11d 1994-Jul-22
Larry 5.000alpha12 1994-???-??
Andy 5.000a12a 1994-Aug-08
5.000a12b 1994-Aug-15
5.000a12c 1994-Aug-22
5.000a12d 1994-Aug-22
5.000a12e 1994-Aug-22
5.000a12f 1994-Aug-24
5.000a12g 1994-Aug-24
5.000a12h 1994-Aug-24
Larry 5.000beta1 1994-???-??
Andy 5.000b1a 1994-???-??
Larry 5.000beta2 1994-Sep-14 Core slushified.
Andy 5.000b2a 1994-Sep-14
5.000b2b 1994-Sep-17
5.000b2c 1994-Sep-17
Larry 5.000beta3 1994-Sep-??
Andy 5.000b3a 1994-Sep-18
5.000b3b 1994-Sep-22
5.000b3c 1994-Sep-23
5.000b3d 1994-Sep-27
5.000b3e 1994-Sep-28
5.000b3f 1994-Sep-30
5.000b3g 1994-Oct-04
Andy 5.000b3h 1994-Oct-07
Larry 5.000 1994-Oct-18
Andy 5.000a 1994-Dec-19
5.000b 1995-Jan-18
5.000c 1995-Jan-18
5.000d 1995-Jan-18
5.000e 1995-Jan-18
5.000f 1995-Jan-18
5.000g 1995-Jan-18
5.000h 1995-Jan-18
5.000i 1995-Jan-26
5.000j 1995-Feb-07
5.000k 1995-Feb-11
5.000l 1995-Feb-21
5.000m 1995-???-??
5.000n 1995-Mar-07
Larry 5.001 1995-Mar-13
Andy 5.001a 1995-Mar-15
5.001b 1995-Mar-31
5.001c 1995-Apr-07
5.001d 1995-Apr-14
5.001e 1995-Apr-18 Stable.
5.001f 1995-May-31
5.001g 1995-May-25
5.001h 1995-May-25
5.001i 1995-May-30
5.001j 1995-Jun-05
5.001k 1995-Jun-06
5.001l 1995-Jun-06 Stable.
5.001m 1995-Jul-02 Very stable.
5.001n 1995-Oct-31 Very unstable.
5.002beta1 1995-Nov-21
5.002b1a 1995-Nov-??
5.002b1b 1995-Dec-04
5.002b1c 1995-Dec-04
5.002b1d 1995-Dec-04
5.002b1e 1995-Dec-08
5.002b1f 1995-Dec-08
Tom 5.002b1g 1995-Dec-21 Doc release.
Andy 5.002b1h 1996-Jan-05
5.002b2 1996-Jan-14
Larry 5.002b3 1996-Feb-02
Andy 5.002gamma 1996-Feb-11
Larry 5.002delta 1996-Feb-27
Larry 5.002 1996-Feb-29 Prototypes.
Charles 5.002_01 1996-Mar-25
5.003 1996-Jun-25 Security release.
5.003_01 1996-Jul-31
Nick 5.003_02 1996-Aug-10
Andy 5.003_03 1996-Aug-28
5.003_04 1996-Sep-02
5.003_05 1996-Sep-12
5.003_06 1996-Oct-07
5.003_07 1996-Oct-10
Chip 5.003_08 1996-Nov-19
5.003_09 1996-Nov-26
5.003_10 1996-Nov-29
5.003_11 1996-Dec-06
5.003_12 1996-Dec-19
5.003_13 1996-Dec-20
5.003_14 1996-Dec-23
5.003_15 1996-Dec-23
5.003_16 1996-Dec-24
5.003_17 1996-Dec-27
5.003_18 1996-Dec-31
5.003_19 1997-Jan-04
5.003_20 1997-Jan-07
5.003_21 1997-Jan-15
5.003_22 1997-Jan-16
5.003_23 1997-Jan-25
5.003_24 1997-Jan-29
5.003_25 1997-Feb-04
5.003_26 1997-Feb-10
5.003_27 1997-Feb-18
5.003_28 1997-Feb-21
5.003_90 1997-Feb-25 Ramping up to the 5.004 release.
5.003_91 1997-Mar-01
5.003_92 1997-Mar-06
5.003_93 1997-Mar-10
5.003_94 1997-Mar-22
5.003_95 1997-Mar-25
5.003_96 1997-Apr-01
5.003_97 1997-Apr-03 Fairly widely used.
5.003_97a 1997-Apr-05
5.003_97b 1997-Apr-08
5.003_97c 1997-Apr-10
5.003_97d 1997-Apr-13
5.003_97e 1997-Apr-15
5.003_97f 1997-Apr-17
5.003_97g 1997-Apr-18
5.003_97h 1997-Apr-24
5.003_97i 1997-Apr-25
5.003_97j 1997-Apr-28
5.003_98 1997-Apr-30
5.003_99 1997-May-01
5.003_99a 1997-May-09
p54rc1 1997-May-12 Release Candidates.
p54rc2 1997-May-14
Chip 5.004 1997-May-15 A major maintenance release.
Tim 5.004_01 1997-Jun-13 The 5.004 maintenance track.
5.004_02 1997-Aug-07
5.004_03 1997-Sep-05
5.004_04 1997-Oct-15
5.004m5t1 1998-Mar-04 Maintenance Trials (for 5.004_05).
5.004_04-m2 1997-May-01
5.004_04-m3 1998-May-15
5.004_04-m4 1998-May-19
5.004_04-MT5 1998-Jul-21
Malcolm 5.004_50 1997-Sep-09 The 5.005 development track.
5.004_51 1997-Oct-02
5.004_52 1997-Oct-15
5.004_53 1997-Oct-16
5.004_54 1997-Nov-14
5.004_55 1997-Nov-25
5.004_56 1997-Dec-18
5.004_57 1998-Feb-03
5.004_58 1998-Feb-06
5.004_59 1998-Feb-13
5.004_60 1998-Feb-20
5.004_61 1998-Feb-27
5.004_62 1998-Mar-06
5.004_63 1998-Mar-17
5.004_64 1998-Apr-03
5.004_65 1998-May-15
5.004_66 1998-May-29
Sarathy 5.004_67 1998-Jun-15
5.004_68 1998-Jun-23
5.004_69 1998-Jun-29
5.004_70 1998-Jul-06
5.004_71 1998-Jul-09
5.004_72 1998-Jul-12
5.004_73 1998-Jul-13
5.004_74 1998-Jul-14 5.005 beta candidate.
5.004_75 1998-Jul-15 5.005 beta1.
5.004_76 1998-Jul-21 5.005 beta2.
5.005 1998-Jul-22 Oneperl.
Sarathy 5.005_01 1998-Jul-27 The 5.005 maintenance track.
5.005_02-T1 1998-Aug-02
5.005_02-T2 1998-Aug-05
5.005_02 1998-Aug-08
Graham 5.005_03 1998-
Sarathy 5.005_50 1998-Jul-26 The 5.006 development track.
For example the notation ``core: 212 29'' in the release 1.000 means that it had in the core 212 kilobytes, in 29 files. The ``core''..``doc'' are explained below.
release core lib ext t doc ======================================================================
1.000 212 29 - - - - 38 51 62 3 1.014 219 29 - - - - 39 52 68 4 2.000 309 31 2 3 - - 55 57 92 4 2.001 312 31 2 3 - - 55 57 94 4 3.000 508 36 24 11 - - 79 73 156 5 3.044 645 37 61 20 - - 90 74 190 6 4.000 635 37 59 20 - - 91 75 198 4 4.019 680 37 85 29 - - 98 76 199 4 4.036 709 37 89 30 - - 98 76 208 5 5.000alpha2 785 50 114 32 - - 112 86 209 5 5.000alpha3 801 50 117 33 - - 121 87 209 5 5.000alpha9 1022 56 149 43 116 29 125 90 217 6 5.000a12h 978 49 140 49 205 46 152 97 228 9 5.000b3h 1035 53 232 70 216 38 162 94 218 21 5.000 1038 53 250 76 216 38 154 92 536 62 5.001m 1071 54 388 82 240 38 159 95 544 29 5.002 1121 54 661 101 287 43 155 94 847 35 5.003 1129 54 680 102 291 43 166 100 853 35 5.003_07 1231 60 748 106 396 53 213 137 976 39 5.004 1351 60 1230 136 408 51 355 161 1587 55 5.004_01 1356 60 1258 138 410 51 358 161 1587 55 5.004_04 1375 60 1294 139 413 51 394 162 1629 55 5.004_51 1401 61 1260 140 413 53 358 162 1594 56 5.004_53 1422 62 1295 141 438 70 394 162 1637 56 5.004_56 1501 66 1301 140 447 74 408 165 1648 57 5.004_59 1555 72 1317 142 448 74 424 171 1678 58 5.004_62 1602 77 1327 144 629 92 428 173 1674 58 5.004_65 1626 77 1358 146 615 92 446 179 1698 60 5.004_68 1856 74 1382 152 619 92 463 187 1784 60 5.004_70 1863 75 1456 154 675 92 494 194 1809 60 5.004_73 1874 76 1467 152 762 102 506 196 1883 61 5.004_75 1877 76 1467 152 770 103 508 196 1896 62 5.005 1896 76 1469 152 795 103 509 197 1945 63
The ``core''...``doc'' mean the following files from the Perl source code distribution. The glob notation ** means recursively, (.) means regular files.
core *.[hcy]
lib lib/**/*.p[ml]
ext ext/**/*.{[hcyt],xs,pm}
t t/**/*(.)
doc {README*,INSTALL,*[_.]man{,.?},pod/**/*.pod}
Here are some statistics for the other subdirectories and one file in the Perl source distribution for somewhat more selected releases.
====================================================================== Legend: kB #
1.014 2.001 3.044 4.000 4.019 4.036
atarist - - - - - - - - - - 113 31 Configure 31 1 37 1 62 1 73 1 83 1 86 1 eg - - 34 28 47 39 47 39 47 39 47 39 emacs - - - - - - 67 4 67 4 67 4 h2pl - - - - 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 hints - - - - - - - - 5 42 11 56 msdos - - - - 41 13 57 15 58 15 60 15 os2 - - - - 63 22 81 29 81 29 113 31 usub - - - - 21 16 25 7 43 8 43 8 x2p 103 17 104 17 137 17 147 18 152 19 154 19
======================================================================
5.000a2 5.000a12h 5.000b3h 5.000 5.001m 5.002 5.003
atarist 113 31 113 31 - - - - - - - - - - bench - - 0 1 - - - - - - - - - - Bugs 2 5 26 1 - - - - - - - - - - dlperl 40 5 - - - - - - - - - - - - do 127 71 - - - - - - - - - - - - Configure - - 153 1 159 1 160 1 180 1 201 1 201 1 Doc - - 26 1 75 7 11 1 11 1 - - - - eg 79 58 53 44 51 43 54 44 54 44 54 44 54 44 emacs 67 4 104 6 104 6 104 1 104 6 108 1 108 1 h2pl 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 hints 11 56 12 46 18 48 18 48 44 56 73 59 77 60 msdos 60 15 60 15 - - - - - - - - - - os2 113 31 113 31 - - - - - - 84 17 56 10 U - - 62 8 112 42 - - - - - - - - usub 43 8 - - - - - - - - - - - - utils - - - - - - - - - - 87 7 88 7 vms - - 80 7 123 9 184 15 304 20 500 24 475 26 x2p 171 22 171 21 162 20 162 20 279 20 280 20 280 20
======================================================================
5.003_07 5.004 5.004_04 5.004_62 5.004_65 5.004_68
beos - - - - - - - - 1 1 1 1 Configure 217 1 225 1 225 1 240 1 248 1 256 1 cygwin32 - - 23 5 23 5 23 5 24 5 24 5 djgpp - - - - - - 14 5 14 5 14 5 eg 54 44 81 62 81 62 81 62 81 62 81 62 emacs 143 1 194 1 204 1 212 2 212 2 212 2 h2pl 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 hints 90 62 129 69 132 71 144 72 151 74 155 74 os2 117 42 121 42 127 42 127 44 129 44 129 44 plan9 79 15 82 15 82 15 82 15 82 15 82 15 Porting 51 1 94 2 109 4 203 6 234 8 241 9 qnx - - 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 utils 97 7 112 8 118 8 124 8 156 9 159 9 vms 505 27 518 34 524 34 538 34 569 34 569 34 win32 - - 285 33 378 36 470 39 493 39 575 41 x2p 280 19 281 19 281 19 281 19 282 19 281 19
======================================================================
5.004_70 5.004_73 5.004_75 5.005
beos 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Configure 256 1 256 1 264 1 264 1 cygwin32 24 5 24 5 24 5 24 5 djgpp 14 5 14 5 14 5 14 5 eg 86 65 86 65 86 65 86 65 emacs 262 2 262 2 262 2 262 2 h2pl 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 hints 157 74 157 74 159 74 160 74 mpeix - - - - 5 3 5 3 os2 129 44 139 44 142 44 143 44 plan9 82 15 82 15 82 15 82 15 Porting 241 9 253 9 259 10 264 12 qnx 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 utils 160 9 160 9 160 9 160 9 vms 570 34 572 34 573 34 575 34 win32 577 41 585 41 585 41 587 41 x2p 281 19 281 19 281 19 281 19
The ``diff lines kb'' means that for example the patch 5.003_08, to be applied on top of the 5.003_07 (or whatever was before the 5.003_08) added lines for 110 kilobytes, it removed lines for 19 kilobytes, and changed lines for 424 kilobytes. Just the lines themselves are counted, not their context. The ``+ - !'' become from the
diff(1)s context diff output format.
Pump- Release Date diff lines kB king + - ! ===========================================================================
Chip 5.003_08 1996-Nov-19 110 19 424
5.003_09 1996-Nov-26 38 9 248
5.003_10 1996-Nov-29 29 2 27
5.003_11 1996-Dec-06 73 12 165
5.003_12 1996-Dec-19 275 6 436
5.003_13 1996-Dec-20 95 1 56
5.003_14 1996-Dec-23 23 7 333
5.003_15 1996-Dec-23 0 0 1
5.003_16 1996-Dec-24 12 3 50
5.003_17 1996-Dec-27 19 1 14
5.003_18 1996-Dec-31 21 1 32
5.003_19 1997-Jan-04 80 3 85
5.003_20 1997-Jan-07 18 1 146
5.003_21 1997-Jan-15 38 10 221
5.003_22 1997-Jan-16 4 0 18
5.003_23 1997-Jan-25 71 15 119
5.003_24 1997-Jan-29 426 1 20
5.003_25 1997-Feb-04 21 8 169
5.003_26 1997-Feb-10 16 1 15
5.003_27 1997-Feb-18 32 10 38
5.003_28 1997-Feb-21 58 4 66
5.003_90 1997-Feb-25 22 2 34
5.003_91 1997-Mar-01 37 1 39
5.003_92 1997-Mar-06 16 3 69
5.003_93 1997-Mar-10 12 3 15
5.003_94 1997-Mar-22 407 7 200
5.003_95 1997-Mar-25 41 1 37
5.003_96 1997-Apr-01 283 5 261
5.003_97 1997-Apr-03 13 2 34
5.003_97a 1997-Apr-05 57 1 27
5.003_97b 1997-Apr-08 14 1 20
5.003_97c 1997-Apr-10 20 1 16
5.003_97d 1997-Apr-13 8 0 16
5.003_97e 1997-Apr-15 15 4 46
5.003_97f 1997-Apr-17 7 1 33
5.003_97g 1997-Apr-18 6 1 42
5.003_97h 1997-Apr-24 23 3 68
5.003_97i 1997-Apr-25 23 1 31
5.003_97j 1997-Apr-28 36 1 49
5.003_98 1997-Apr-30 171 12 539
5.003_99 1997-May-01 6 0 7
5.003_99a 1997-May-09 36 2 61
p54rc1 1997-May-12 8 1 11
p54rc2 1997-May-14 6 0 40
5.004 1997-May-15 4 0 4
Tim 5.004_01 1997-Jun-13 222 14 57
5.004_02 1997-Aug-07 112 16 119
5.004_03 1997-Sep-05 109 0 17
5.004_04 1997-Oct-15 66 8 173
Jarkko Hietaniemi <jhi@iki.fi>.
Thanks to the collective memory of the Perlfolk. In addition to the Keepers of the Pumpkin also Alan Champion, Andreas König, John Macdonald, Matthias Neeracher, Michael Peppler, Randal Schwartz, and Paul D. Smith sent corrections and additions.
If rather than formatting bugs, you encounter substantive content errors in these documents, such as mistakes in the explanations or code, please use the perlbug utility included with the Perl distribution.