Is mod_perl dead?

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I am asking this question with great concern. I use mod_perl very
extensively on my site algebra.com. It is 100% mod_perl.

After looking at this mailing list and asking a question about
segfaults, and looking at recent posts, I am beginning to become
concerned that mod_perl is a dead project. I would like to hear
whether it has a long term future, which I hope is the case, as I do
not want to rewrite 70,000+ lines of code!

I hope that I am not offending anyone, I am a huge fan of mod_perl and
use it very extensively, but I want to know the truth.

i

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I am asking this question with great concern. I use mod_perl very
extensively on my site . It is 100% mod_perl.

After looking at this mailing list and asking a question about

segfaults, and looking at recent posts, I am beginning to become
concerned that mod_perl is a dead project. I would like to hear
whether it has a long term future, which I hope is the case, as I do
not want to rewrite 70,000+ lines of code!


I hope that I am not offending anyone, I am a huge fan of mod_perl and
use it very extensively, but I want to know the truth.

i



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Re: Is mod_perl dead?

Dear Igor

On Mon, 2009-08-10 at 07:40 -0500, Igor Chudov wrote:

> After looking at this mailing list and asking a question about
> segfaults, and looking at recent posts, I am beginning to become
> concerned that mod_perl is a dead project. I would like to hear
> whether it has a long term future, which I hope is the case, as I do
> not want to rewrite 70,000+ lines of code!

It is most certainly not a dead project. While there doesn't appear to
be lots of ongoing development, the reason for that is that mod_perl is
pretty much a done project.

It does exactly what it needs to do, so changes are only required when
the apache interface changes or a bug is discovered.

I've been using mod_perl on linux for the past 13 years, and the only
time I've experienced segfaults was when I was trying to open a database
handle in the parent process and use it in the children.

mod_perl is used by a LOT of big companies, and they wouldn't use it if
it weren't stable and reliable.

You almost undoubtedly have a problem in your code - at first guess, I'd
look for any code that is trying to share file handles or pipes between
children.

And follow Adam's advice:


>
> Have you read this section of the docmentation on perl.apache.org?
> http://perl.apache.org/docs/2.0/devel/debug/c.html
> particularly the stuff about generating core dumps and analyzing them
>
regards

Clint

Re: Is mod_perl dead?

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Clinton, thanks a lot. This is very reassuring, as I have been a heavy user
of mod_perl for many years and would like it to continue.

I will keep looking and seeking resolution to my segfault problem.

Igor


On Mon, Aug 10, 2009 at 9:07 AM, Clinton Gormley wrote:

> Dear Igor
>
> On Mon, 2009-08-10 at 07:40 -0500, Igor Chudov wrote:
>
> > After looking at this mailing list and asking a question about
> > segfaults, and looking at recent posts, I am beginning to become
> > concerned that mod_perl is a dead project. I would like to hear
> > whether it has a long term future, which I hope is the case, as I do
> > not want to rewrite 70,000+ lines of code!
>
> It is most certainly not a dead project. While there doesn't appear to
> be lots of ongoing development, the reason for that is that mod_perl is
> pretty much a done project.
>
> It does exactly what it needs to do, so changes are only required when
> the apache interface changes or a bug is discovered.
>
> I've been using mod_perl on linux for the past 13 years, and the only
> time I've experienced segfaults was when I was trying to open a database
> handle in the parent process and use it in the children.
>
> mod_perl is used by a LOT of big companies, and they wouldn't use it if
> it weren't stable and reliable.
>
> You almost undoubtedly have a problem in your code - at first guess, I'd
> look for any code that is trying to share file handles or pipes between
> children.
>
> And follow Adam's advice:
>
>
> >
> > Have you read this section of the docmentation on perl.apache.org?
> > http://perl.apache.org/docs/2.0/devel/debug/c.html
> > particularly the stuff about generating core dumps and analyzing them
> >
> regards
>
> Clint
>
>
>

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Clinton, thanks a lot. This is very reassuring, as I have been a heavy user=
of mod_perl for many years and would like it to continue.

I will k=
eep looking and seeking resolution to my segfault problem.

Igor

Re: Is mod_perl dead?

Igor,

Are you familiar with how to prepare mod_perl for a proper core dump,
and then load the core dump into the debugger?

I fought through this not long ago - though was not that difficult.

http://httpd.apache.org/dev/debugging.html
http://perl.apache.org/docs/2.0/devel/debug/c.html#Analyzing _Dumped_Core_Fi=
les

Of course, that ended up getting me nowhere. Here is another
technique that may help you :

http://modperlbook.org/html/21-5-8-Noninteractive-Perl-Debug ging-Under-mod_=
perl.html

cheers,
-Alan


--=20
=93Don't eat anything you've ever seen advertised on TV=94
- Michael Pollan, author of "In Defense of Food"

Re: Is mod_perl dead?

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Thanks, guys. I think that I found the issue, a C compiled executable that
would crash after doing its job. I fixed it and it no longer crashes. No
more segfaults for me. Thanks a lot to all, and I am glad to hear that
mod_perl is a well supported project.

Igor

On Mon, Aug 10, 2009 at 9:17 AM, Alan McKay wrote:

> Igor,
>
> Are you familiar with how to prepare mod_perl for a proper core dump,
> and then load the core dump into the debugger?
>
> I fought through this not long ago - though was not that difficult.
>
> http://httpd.apache.org/dev/debugging.html
>
> http://perl.apache.org/docs/2.0/devel/debug/c.html#Analyzing _Dumped_Core_=
Files
>
> Of course, that ended up getting me nowhere. Here is another
> technique that may help you :
>
>
> http://modperlbook.org/html/21-5-8-Noninteractive-Perl-Debug ging-Under-mo=
d_perl.html
>
> cheers,
> -Alan
>
>
> --
> =93Don't eat anything you've ever seen advertised on TV=94
> - Michael Pollan, author of "In Defense of Food"
>

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Thanks, guys. I think that I found the issue, a C compiled executable that =
would crash after doing its job. I fixed it and it no longer crashes. No mo=
re segfaults for me. Thanks a lot to all, and I am glad to hear that mod_pe=
rl is a well supported project.


Igor

Re: Is mod_perl dead?

On Mon, Aug 10, 2009 at 7:07 AM, Clinton Gormley wrot=
e:
> Dear Igor
>
> On Mon, 2009-08-10 at 07:40 -0500, Igor Chudov wrote:
>
>> After looking at this mailing list and asking a question about
>> segfaults, and looking at recent posts, I am beginning to become
>> concerned that mod_perl is a dead project. I would like to hear
>> whether it has a long term future, which I hope is the case, as I do
>> not want to rewrite 70,000+ lines of code!
>
> It is most certainly not a dead project. =A0While there doesn't appear to
> be lots of ongoing development, the reason for that is that mod_perl is
> pretty much a done project.

There is ongoing development, but most of it has been focused on
bugfixes and long term stability. I wouldn't say that it is done, but
2.0.5 will represent the next stable release. I was talking with some
of the developers at ApacheCon last year, and there are some ways that
we may explore to make mod_perl more modular and easier to use.

If you need the latest and greatest, you can always pull from
subversion. The trunk is very stable right now and contains some
fixes that will be released with 2.0.5.

I've been working on Apache::Bootstrap to minimize the pain of
releasing updates to the Apache::* modules, and can always use help
testing there.

Also, there are usually active mod_perl developers on the #modperl irc
channel at irc.perl.org, feel free to drop in and say hi!




>
> It does exactly what it needs to do, so changes are only required when
> the apache interface changes or a bug is discovered.
>
> I've been using mod_perl on linux =A0for the past 13 years, and the only
> time I've experienced segfaults was when I was trying to open a database
> handle in the parent process and use it in the children.
>
> mod_perl is used by a LOT of big companies, and they wouldn't use it if
> it weren't stable and reliable.
>
> You almost undoubtedly have a problem in your code - at first guess, I'd
> look for any code that is trying to share file handles or pipes between
> children.
>
> And follow Adam's advice:
>
>
>>
>> Have you read this section of the docmentation on perl.apache.org?
>> http://perl.apache.org/docs/2.0/devel/debug/c.html
>> particularly the stuff about generating core dumps and analyzing them
>>
> regards
>
> Clint
>
>
>

Re: Is mod_perl dead?

On Mon, Aug 10, 2009 at 8:09 AM, Igor Chudov wrote:
> Thanks, guys. I think that I found the issue, a C compiled executable tha=
t
> would crash after doing its job. I fixed it and it no longer crashes. No
> more segfaults for me. Thanks a lot to all, and I am glad to hear that
> mod_perl is a well supported project.

One think to consider also is that most of the development resources
are going towards stability. mod_perl will be here in 5,10,15,
probably 20 years. It's already been around for 10.

I talked to Paul Querna at OSCON (one of the Apache httpd developers),
and mod_perl will function with the next version of Apache, which will
be 2.4. There are probably other httpd developers on this list, so
please chime in with your thoughts there.

If you look at other open source projects which are very active, most
of that activity is going towards new untested development. Not the
code that you can run your huge website on and expect high stability
and scalability.





>
> Igor
>
> On Mon, Aug 10, 2009 at 9:17 AM, Alan McKay wrote:
>>
>> Igor,
>>
>> Are you familiar with how to prepare mod_perl for a proper core dump,
>> and then load the core dump into the debugger?
>>
>> I fought through this not long ago - though was not that difficult.
>>
>> http://httpd.apache.org/dev/debugging.html
>>
>> http://perl.apache.org/docs/2.0/devel/debug/c.html#Analyzing _Dumped_Core=
_Files
>>
>> Of course, that ended up getting me nowhere. =A0Here is another
>> technique that may help you :
>>
>>
>> http://modperlbook.org/html/21-5-8-Noninteractive-Perl-Debug ging-Under-m=
od_perl.html
>>
>> cheers,
>> -Alan
>>
>>
>> --
>> =93Don't eat anything you've ever seen advertised on TV=94
>> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 - Michael Pollan, author of "In Defense of Food"
>
>

Re: Is mod_perl dead?

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Guys, Fred et al, thanks a lot. I am very encouraged by this. mod_perl has
been rock solid for me in general and lets me do very fancy things in a
straightforward and scalable fashion. I made over $150K with mod_perl and
love it, and wrote some of my own perl modules on CPAN. Here I am wishing it
20 more years of success

Igor

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Guys, Fred et al, thanks a lot. I am very encouraged by this. mod_perl has =
been rock solid for me in general and lets me do very fancy things in a str=
aightforward and scalable fashion. I made over $150K with mod_perl and love=
it, and wrote some of my own perl modules on CPAN. Here I am wishing it 20=
more years of success


Igor


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