From CGI101.com I came across this script
#!/usr/bin/perl -wT
print "Content-type: text/html\n\n";
print "Hello, world!\n";
I wrote the script in Notepad, and FTPd it to mysite.com/first.cgi and gave it chmod 755.
From my web host control panel:
Path to Perl: /usr/bin/perl
Perl modules: All standard Perl modules, including DBI, are installed.
Perl version: 5.8.5 (patched)
In FF2 I get a blank screen - and in IE7 I get a 403. What's gone wrong?
You can, after all, put a PHP file anywhere and it will be executed. Unfortunately for Perl it never grew out of the /cgi-bin directory into an easily usable form like PHP, which is why it's pretty much lost its way as a web language.
a hammer is easy to use - so what?
In reality, any folder with it's permission bits set to execute should run scripts as safely as any script that is in a cgi-bin folder. The cgi-bin generally has directory browsing turned off by defualt and will only try and run scripts/programs instead of just returning them like an html document or image.
The advantage to this is an organized repository of all your cgi scripts that the outside world can't get a listing of and you can store data in the cgi-bin and it is relatively safe from http access since direct access to it will result in a server error. The other advantage is that it is setup in the server directives, making it faster and safer than using .htaccess files on a per folder basis.
But all this can be done in any folder by anyone that understands some basic server setup stuff, so the cgi-bin is merely a convenience for the casual user that does not know how to setup scripts and data files in a secure way themselves.
wow - nice troll!
i've actually never run one of my perl cgi scripts from the cgi-bin directory, so that shows what a small bit of knowledge can do for you.
as far as php is concerned, it is so easy to use that i spend more time answering questions in the php forum than here - and i've never written a word of php.a hammer is easy to use - so what?
Was that aimed at my comment? If so, I hasten to point out that I do most of my programming in Perl, more precisely mod_perl. My comment was meant to reflect the sad fact that virtually all the hosting providers I've come across do the standard /cgi-bin setup...
[edited by: zCat at 6:01 pm (utc) on Aug. 15, 2007]
