Because I seem to be doing this a lot at the moment, here’s my quick-start to local::lib and perlbrew … the saner way to run perl!

# create a working area mkdir $HOME/setup cd $HOME/setup # install local::lib wget http://search.cpan.org/CPAN/authors/id/A/AP/APEIRON/local-lib-1.008004.tar.gz tar zxf local-lib-1.008004.tar.gz cd local-lib-1.008004/ perl Makefile.PL --bootstrap make test make install # enable local::lib for future logins echo 'eval $(perl -I$HOME/perl5/lib/perl5 -Mlocal::lib)' >>~/.bashrc # enable local::lib now eval $(perl -I$HOME/perl5/lib/perl5 -Mlocal::lib) # install perlbrew curl -L http://cpanmin.us | perl - App::cpanminus cpanm App::perlbrew # enable perlbrew for future logins echo \ 'if [ -f $HOME/perl5/perlbrew/etc/bashrc ]; then source $HOME/perl5/perlbrew/etc/bashrc; fi' \ >> ~/.bashrc # brew ourselves a perl to use perlbrew init source $HOME/perl5/perlbrew/etc/bashrc perlbrew install perl-5.12.3

If all went well you’ll find yourself with a localised perl installation. Some days I really wish I’d discovered this before I $^!%ed all over my system perl installation.

(I actually manage the .bashrc entries in a different way, but that’s an entry for another day, and this is a good approach to the problem).