Perl Plugin : was Re: Welcome to the "gtk-perl-list" mailing list

[zentara <zentara1 sbcglobal net>]

On Tue, 17 Jun 2008 08:19:30 -0400
muppet <scott asofyet org> wrote:

> On Jun 17, 2008, at 3:51 AM, Priya Somasundaran wrote:
>
> > Helloo,
> > I have just begun gtk programming in perl. I did my first hello  
> > world application successfully. But i am unable to run in from a  
> > browser, when i run it from a browser i get the following error

> While perl is, indeed, widely used for web stuff, desktop graphical  
> user interface programs are not web apps, and you don't run them  
> through a browser.  You can run your program from a command terminal  
> window (xterm or gnome-terminal) or by double-clicking it in a file  
> manager (like nautilus), or make a .desktop file to integrate the app  
> into your desktop menus.
>
>
> > i need to call my gtk program from a web interface perl program how  
> > do i do that.
>
> Given the above, i find this statement very confusing.  In what way do  
> you need to call your gui app from a web interface?  Can you explain  
> what you're trying to do?

Just to clarify on what muppet said, to run something thru a browser,
it needs to be done thru a CGI program( which is run on the server) OR
the browser must have a plug-in for that mime type.

Sadly, only Java and Flash have a decent plugin for most browsers.
I wish Perl had a browser plugin, especially to allow Tk and Gtk2 perl
programs to be run in a browser...... but it dosn't exist. 

Java and Flash are the 2 most widely used browser plug-ins,
which allow a very limited set of commands that can be run on a local
web browser. 

The reason for this is security. A Perl plugin would have to have almost all of it's
filesystem access, amoung many other commands, to allow safe running
on a browser. Think about it..... would you like someone on some server somewhere
being able to run any Perl script on your computer, just because you clicked
some link?
The Java plugin, only has a reduced set of the full Java commands, which are deemed
safe enough to allow limited graphics.

Still, I wish some smart Perl hacker would make a Perl with limited powers as a plugin,
but I guess few people would trust it. People trust Adobe Flash and Java because
of the reputable corporations backing them up.  Even then, numerous security
flaws exist in them, and I keep the plugins turned off unless needed.


zentara





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