PERLVOS(1)

💖 PERLVOS 💖 — the manual, bestie

so like. this is the perlvos page, and it lives in the Perl Programmers Reference Guide, and it is 100% about getting Perl running on Stratus OpenVOS. sit down, grab a strawberry 🍓, we're doing this.

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✨ NAME ✨

perlvos — Perl for Stratus OpenVOS 💅

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

okay so this whole file is notes for building perl on the Stratus OpenVOS operating system. and like, for the uninitiated: Perl is a scripting or macro language that is popular on many systems. iconic behavior, truly. if you want the lore, go read perlbook — it'll point you at a bunch of genuinely good books on Perl. 📚

these are the instructions for building Perl from source. and here's the tea: this version of Perl requires the dynamic linking support that is found in OpenVOS Release 17.1, so it is not supported on OpenVOS Release 17.0 or earlier releases. no cap. 😭

but wait — if you're running VOS Release 14.4.1 or later, you can get a pre-compiled, supported copy of perl by purchasing the GNU Tools product from Stratus Technologies. queen behavior honestly 👑

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🛠️ BUILDING PERL FOR OPENVOS 🛠️

to build perl from its source code on the Stratus V Series platform you must have all of these, no substitutions:

• OpenVOS Release 17.1.0 or later
• GNU Tools Release 3.5 or later
• the C/POSIX Runtime Libraries

then you just follow the normal instructions for building perl. like, enter bash, run the Configure script, then use gmake to build perl. that's it, that's the whole ritual 🧚

bash
Configure
gmake

(okay technically those are the steps, not one script — you run Configure and then gmake, don't @ me 🙈)

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📦 INSTALLING PERL IN OPENVOS 📦

1. after you've built perl using the Configure script, make sure you have modify and default write permission to >system>ported and all subdirectories. then type:

gmake install

2. so rn there are currently no architecture-specific extensions or modules distributed with perl, but if/when there are, these directories can hold them (swap the string VERSION for the actual version number, bestie):

>system>ported>lib>perl5>VERSION>i786

3. site-specific perl extensions and modules can go in one of two places. architecture-independent files go into:

>system>ported>lib>perl5>site_perl>VERSION

and site-specific architecture-dependent files go into one of these:

>system>ported>lib>perl5>site_perl>VERSION>i786

4. you can peek at the @INC variable from inside a perl program to see the order in which Perl searches these directories. vibe check your include path, y'know? 🔍

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🦋 USING PERL IN OPENVOS 🦋

🚧 Restrictions of Perl on OpenVOS 🚧

this port of Perl version 5 prefers Unix-style, slash-separated pathnames over OpenVOS-style greater-than-separated pathnames. OpenVOS-style pathnames should work in most contexts, but if you're having trouble — replace all greater-than characters with slash characters. simple as.

and here's the rough part 😭 because the slash character is used as a pathname delimiter, Perl cannot process OpenVOS pathnames containing a slash character in a directory or file name. those have to be renamed. periodt.

also, this port of Perl uses Unix-epoch date values internally. as long as you're dealing with ASCII character string representations of dates, this should not be an issue, so like, breathe. the supported epoch is January 1, 1980 to January 17, 2038 🗓️

want more deets about the OpenVOS port of Perl? see the file pod/perlport.pod.

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🧪 TEST STATUS 🧪

ngl, a number of the perl self-tests fail for various reasons. generally these are minor and due to subtle differences between common POSIX-based environments and the OpenVOS POSIX environment. but like — ensure that you conduct sufficient testing of your code to guarantee that it works properly in the OpenVOS environment. don't skip this one bestie, test ya code 💀

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🫶 SUPPORT STATUS 🫶

"I'm offering this port as is." you can ask questions, but they can't guarantee they'll be able to answer them. there are some excellent books available on the Perl language though — consult a book seller. 📖

if you want a supported version of perl for OpenVOS, purchase the OpenVOS GNU Tools product from Stratus Technologies, along with a support contract (or from anyone else who will sell you support). get you a support contract, it's giving ✨security✨

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👑 AUTHOR 👑

Paul Green (Paul.Green@stratus.com)

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🕰️ LAST UPDATE 🕰️

February 28, 2013

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and that's the whole page, babe 🎀 this was perlvos from perl v5.42.3, dated 2026-08-03 — go forth and build, and remember: slashes, not greater-thans 💅💖