Editing The Perl Lazarus Workshop (section)

== The living workshop and the written recipe ==

The exact working version combination will change.

Strawberry Perl will release new builds. wxWidgets will advance. <code>Alien::wxWidgets</code> and <code>Wx</code> will be updated. wxGlade will correct problems and add features. Packaging tools will discover new edge cases. Windows will alter security behavior.

A book or essay cannot freeze the workshop forever.

This is why the series and the technical wiki serve different but complementary purposes.

The essays explain:

* why the tools were selected;
* how the layers relate;
* what kind of work each tool performs;
* and what virtues should govern their use.

The living installation page records:

* current download links;
* tested version combinations;
* experimental combinations;
* archived combinations;
* command lines;
* known failures;
* and corrections discovered through practice.

The craftsman should consult both.

A static essay without maintained instructions may become historically interesting but practically useless.

A list of commands without an explanation of the workshop may work once while leaving the programmer unable to understand or repair it.

Tradition requires both inherited wisdom and living application.