cperl-mode and emacs-21.4 brocken?

[Mike Dowling]

I had no problems with cperl-mode with emacs-21.3.
With emacs-21.4, it still works, but only if started manually (M-x
cperl-mode). Starting automaticall with

(autoload 'perl-mode "cperl-mode" "alternate mode for editing Perl
programs" t)

in the .emacs file fails. Instead, I get the message:

File mode specification error: (error "Autoloading failed to define
function perl-mode")

Any clues, anybody?

Cheers,
M. Dowling

 

[Ilya Zakharevich]

[A complimentary Cc of this posting was sent to
Mike Dowling

I had no problems with cperl-mode with emacs-21.3.
With emacs-21.4, it still works, but only if started manually (M-x
cperl-mode). Starting automaticall with

(autoload 'perl-mode "cperl-mode" "alternate mode for editing Perl
programs" t)

in the .emacs file fails. Instead, I get the message:

File mode specification error: (error "Autoloading failed to define
function perl-mode")

Any clues, anybody?

Maybe you are using "my" cperl-mode.el with 21.3, and "their" with
21.4? IIRC, with "their" version you need a different way to
auto-associate, since it won't overwrite perl-mode...

Hope this helps,
Ilya

 

[Mike Dowling]

[A complimentary Cc of this posting was sent to
Mike Dowling

I had no problems with cperl-mode with emacs-21.3.
With emacs-21.4, it still works, but only if started manually (M-x
cperl-mode). Starting automaticall with

(autoload 'perl-mode "cperl-mode" "alternate mode for editing Perl
programs" t)

in the .emacs file fails. Instead, I get the message:

File mode specification error: (error "Autoloading failed to define
function perl-mode")

Maybe you are using "my" cperl-mode.el with 21.3, and "their" with
21.4? IIRC, with "their" version you need a different way to
auto-associate, since it won't overwrite perl-mode...

Perhaps! I used the cperl-mode that came with emacs ("theirs") but it
appeared to have been authored by you, but its probabale old. Where can
I get the latest version, could you perhaps post it here?

Here's the blurb in the commentary in the beginning:

;;; cperl-mode.el --- Perl code editing commands for Emacs

;; Copyright (C) 1985, 86, 87, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 1997
;; Free Software Foundation, Inc.

;; Author: Ilya Zakharevich and Bob Olson
;; Maintainer: Ilya Zakharevich <[email protected]>
;; Keywords: languages, Perl

So it looks like it's yours, but

(defvar cperl-tips 'please-ignore-this-line
"Get newest version of this package from
ftp://ftp.math.ohio-state.edu/pub/users/ilya/emacs
and/or
ftp://ftp.math.ohio-state.edu/pub/users/ilya/perl
Subdirectory `cperl-mode' may contain yet newer development releases
and/or
patches to related files.

For best results apply to an older Emacs the patches from
ftp://ftp.math.ohio-state.edu/pub/users/ilya/cperl-mode/patches
\(this upgrades syntax-parsing abilities of RMS Emaxen v19.34 and
v20.2 up to the level of RMS Emacs v20.3 - a must for a good Perl
mode.) You will not get much from XEmacs, its syntax abilities are
too primitive.

But these FTP URLs apparently no longer exist, so I deduce the
cperl-mode distributed with emacs is ancient. A google search for more
recent sources drew a blank.

Cheers,
Mike Dowling

 

[Ilya Zakharevich]

[A complimentary Cc of this posting was sent to
Mike Dowling

Perhaps! I used the cperl-mode that came with emacs ("theirs") but it
appeared to have been authored by you, but its probabale old. Where can
I get the latest version, could you perhaps post it here?

One which comes with Emacs is a tiny bit dumbed down to be more
compatible with the "common ideology" of the Emacs package. See
ilyaz.org/software/emacs for the "point-and-shoot" version.

What do people think: is the presense of two versions hurting more
than availability of a version "which just works" no matter what
version of Emacs you are using (I use 19.33 ;-)?

Yours,
Ilya

 

[Mike Dowling]

[A complimentary Cc of this posting was sent to
Mike Dowling

Perhaps! I used the cperl-mode that came with emacs ("theirs") but it
appeared to have been authored by you, but its probabale old. Where can
I get the latest version, could you perhaps post it here?

One which comes with Emacs is a tiny bit dumbed down to be more
compatible with the "common ideology" of the Emacs package. See
ilyaz.org/software/emacs for the "point-and-shoot" version.

Great! Works out of the box! Just the gear!

What do people think: is the presense of two versions hurting more
than availability of a version "which just works" no matter what
version of Emacs you are using (I use 19.33 ;-)?

Well, it hurts a bit. Obviously the version with emacs 21.4 is broken,
and that hurts.

As for the version, I always need the latest version of all useful Linux
software. This is because I have been developing my own Linux directly
from the sources ever since kernel version 0.7 (? I ferget exactly, but
it's close). If I ever stop continually upgrading to latest versions,
I'd be overwhelmed. I could then only catch up by reverting to a
distribution.

Cheers,
Mike Dowling

 

[Ilya Zakharevich]

[A complimentary Cc of this posting was sent to
Mike Dowling

Well, it hurts a bit. Obviously the version with emacs 21.4 is broken,
and that hurts.

As for the version, I always need the latest version of all useful Linux
software.

The "mine" and "their" versions have the same "version number"; *this*
is the problem I had in mind. (*If* "their" version has any version
number at all - they have some opposition to RCS strings in .el files...)

Yours,
Ilya

 

[Radomir Hejl]

I had no problems with cperl-mode with emacs-21.3.
With emacs-21.4, it still works, but only if started manually (M-x
cperl-mode). Starting automaticall with

(autoload 'perl-mode "cperl-mode" "alternate mode for editing Perl
programs" t)

in the .emacs file fails. Instead, I get the message:

File mode specification error: (error "Autoloading failed to define
function perl-mode")

Any clues, anybody?

Cheers,
M. Dowling

I installed emacs 21.4.2 on solaris and was surprised to have only
cperl-mode 4.32 version.
So I replaced it with 5.0 version from
http://math.berkeley.edu/~ilya/software/emacs/
and it works seamlessly. Most annoying thing for me was ignoring \(a,b,..)
syntax which I suppose was fixed in 4.35.
In .emacs I have
(defalias 'perl-mode 'cperl-mode)
(setq cperl-syntaxify-by-font-lock t)

Radek

 

[David Combs]

The "mine" and "their" versions have the same "version number"; *this*
is the problem I had in mind. (*If* "their" version has any version
number at all - they have some opposition to RCS strings in .el files...)

Yours,
Ilya

PLEASE, Ilya, prevail on the (gnu-?)emacs preparers/bundlers to
place in:

(1) "their" cperl-mode

(2) the release-notes

(3) the emacs manual (and .info)

this:

A *LOUD* notice that "their" cperl-mode is a hacked-by-them
*version* of *your* cperl-mode.

How "theirs" and yours differ, and why.

Where to get *yours* -- and either why some
(many) people prefer yours, or the url
of that opinion.

Ilya -- being as cperl-mode is ***YOUR*** code (even if not "legally",
due to gnu-license?), you REQUIRE that they do the above.

(also, doesn't the gnu/fsf-"license" *require* that they
do this revealing of how to get the original, ie yours?)

Thanks (from us all?)

David

(and much! thanks, from us all, for creating cperl-mode!)

 

[Ilya Zakharevich]

[A complimentary Cc of this posting was sent to
David Combs

Thanks for your advices on how I should/could lean on FSF...

Ilya -- being as cperl-mode is ***YOUR*** code (even if not "legally",
due to gnu-license?), you REQUIRE that they do the above.

Maybe I'm getting tired too quick now? ;-) Anyway, I'm very grateful
that now (after 10 years of bitching) "End" key does by default what
it should have done from the beginning. Now if Emacs would reliably
work with 8-bit input, I may even upgrade from the version 19.33 I'm
running now. ;-) ;-)

(also, doesn't the gnu/fsf-"license" *require* that they
do this revealing of how to get the original, ie yours?)

Interesting question. I do not recollect anything like this;
I would not be surprised if I'm the only person who is ready to stand
to the pressure and do not make the package "conform". ("Conformance"
is very useful in some modes of deployment; but it is not
*universally* better...)

(and much! thanks, from us all, for creating cperl-mode!)

Actually, I did not create it; when I started it was in a reasonable
shape already (similar to what other good Emacs packages are ;-). And
a lot of thanks to everybody how helped me to improve it to the
current state!

Yours,
Ilya