Perl on UNIX and Linux Systems

If you are using a UNIX-compatible system (such as Linux, Solaris, or a BSD), most chances are that Perl 5 is already installed there. To verify that, type perl -v inside a command shell, and check that the version of Perl is recent enough. If so, you can easily run Perl scripts there.

Even if this is not the case, you can usually install it from the distribution you are using, assuming you are an administrator of the system. Else, given enough quota it is possible to install the most recent version of Perl 5 under your home directory. This procedure can be followed by downloading the latest Perl source from CPAN, and following the instructions in the INSTALL file.

Tips

Setting up a local Perldoc

The perldoc documentation program is not always present in the default installation, as many non-programmers or non-Perl programmers are not going to use it. It can be installed by:

1. Installing the "perl-doc" or "perldoc" package using your distribution's package manager. See its documentation or support for details
2. Installing DocPerl which is a web-interface to the local Perl documentation.
3. Installing tkpod which is a Perl/Tk-based interface.
4. Alternatively one can access the online perl documentation, which may deviate from what you have.