Editing Portal:Linux (section)

=== Why some Linux systems no longer assume Perl ===

Several trends weakened Perl’s default presence:

* minimal cloud images reduced default packages;
* containers encouraged tiny base images;
* Python became more common for distribution tooling;
* shell scripts replaced some Perl scripts;
* Go and Rust produced self-contained administrative tools;
* enterprise packaging began requiring explicit build dependencies;
* embedded and container distributions prioritized size over convenience;
* security-conscious systems reduced unnecessary interpreters.

This does not mean Perl disappeared. It means Perl became more explicitly managed.

The change is especially visible in the RHEL family, where Red Hat documents that Perl is no longer in the default buildroot starting with RHEL 8.<ref>Red Hat, “Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9: Packaging and distributing software,” section 6.8, https://docs.redhat.com/es/documentation/red_hat_enterprise_linux/9/pdf/packaging_and_distributing_software/red_hat_enterprise_linux-9-packaging_and_distributing_software-en-us.pdf, accessed July 3, 2026.</ref>