Chapter 2. Installing Perl
The best things in life are free. So is Perl. Although you can get a bundled Perl distribution on CD-ROM, most people download Perl from an online archive. CPAN, the Comprehensive Perl Archive Network, is the main distribution point for all things Perl. Whether you are looking for Perl itself, for a module, or for documentation about Perl, CPAN is the place to go, at http://www.perl.com/CPAN/. The ongoing development and enhancement of Perl is very much a cooperative effort, and CPAN is the place where the work of many individuals comes together.
The CPAN Architecture
CPAN represents the development interests of a cross-section of the Perl community. It contains Perl utilities, modules, documentation, and (of course) the Perl distribution itself. CPAN was created by Jarkko Hietaniemi and Andreas König.
The home system for CPAN is funet.fi, but CPAN is also mirrored on many other sites around the globe. This ensures that anyone with an Internet connection can have reliable access to CPAN’s contents at any time. Since the structure of all CPAN sites is the same, a user searching for the current version of Perl can be sure that the latest.tar.gz file is the same on every site.
The easiest way to access CPAN is to utilize the CPAN multiplex service at http://www.perl.com. The multiplexor tries to connect you to a local, fast machine on a large bandwidth hub. To use the multiplexor, go to http://www.perl.com/CPAN/; the multiplexor will automatically route ...
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