My turn to disagree, tanderso.
Perl 5.6 -- the latest release available from
or
-- was developed around both the Unix/Linux and 32-bit windows systems, not just ported from its Unix roots. Between the platforms, you won't find, as far as I'm aware, any syntactical or functional differences.
While Linux may find more uses for Perl in administrative tasks than, say, Windows 98, it shouldn't be assumed that Linux is solely where Perl belongs. Windows is an excellent learning platform, offering people a familiar environment to develop in (WordPad is significantly easier than vi

and a chance to focus on strictly the Perl language, rather than the numerous quirks of Linux in general. I think it is a disservice to Larry Wall and all others involved in the language's development to encourage that sort of bias.
All in all, Linux may be the place to put a knowledge of Perl to work, but for novices who are using Perl as an introduction to the C-style family of programming languages and who are not likely to have worked in a console environment, Windows will definitely suffice for learning.
Oh, and don't get me wrong -- I am a huge Linux advocate... I don't like to see people run scared from it the first time they go through the "make" process. Better to equip 'em with a fundamental language and understanding of other languages before sending them in.
Thus ends this entirely ignorable diatribe.
brendanc@icehouse.net