I purchased and downloaded ActiveState's Perl Dev Kit 4.0 last night.
It compiled a perl script with a bunch of Tk widgets without me having to look at a single FAQ, readme, or -help menu. I was quite impressed with how easy-to-use ActiveState made their tools. as it turns out, this solves several problems in one fell swoop. First, I can sell a stand-alone executable, rather than have to worry about customers trying to install perl, and then get my script to run. and my customers will be basic computer users. Second, it gives me a level of obfuscation for the program that would be hard for me to replicate on my own. It's impossible to write uncrackable software that is sold to the public, but this is more like a lock on the front door, knowing that professional burgulars will simply smash a window. and the only reason I'm taking time to write this program is because I hope to get some money back from selling it. apparently, there are no open source solutions for this application, and one has been in need for several years. Anyway, that's the summary: ActiveState PDK 4.0 appears to work very nicely. Now I just have to finish the application. Greg
