Dan Sugalski:
# At 10:13 AM -0800 3/17/02, Brent Dax wrote:
# ># Probing Perl 5's configuration to determine which headers you
# ># have (this could
# ># take a while on slow machines)...
# ># Out of memory!
# ># %SYSTEM-F-ABORT, abort
# >
# >Lines in question:
# >
# >
# >foreach(grep {/^i_/} keys %Config) {
# >     $c{$_}=$Config{$_};
# >     $c{headers}.=defineifdef((/^i_(.*)$/));
# >}
# >
# >I think VMS is too lame to handle the grep line.
#
# No, it's not. Perl works fine on VMS, just as it does on dozens of
# other platforms. If that code's throwing a fit, then either perl
# itself is broken, or the configure script is broken.
#
# Likely the error is someplace else.

We saw this error on VMS before, and that was the cause.  That line
_does_ take a lot of memory:

        -the hash
        -a list of the keys
        -the result list from the grep

# >Honestly, I'd rather not change it to bow to a retarded OS
#
# I think, perhaps, that namecalling at software would best be saved
# for other places.

The namecalling was because it couldn't handle grep's memory
requirements (which, granted, are non-trivial), not because of any
personal dislike for VMS.  I don't know enough about VMS to form an
opinion on it--its popular days were before my time.  ;^)

--Brent Dax <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
@roles=map {"Parrot $_"} qw(embedding regexen Configure)

#define private public
    --Spotted in a C++ program just before a #include

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