Reword the "threads still running" cleanup message.

[perl5.git] / README.threads

diff --git a/README.threads b/README.threads
index de95e10..9cd0dbc 100644 (file)
--- a/README.threads
+++ b/README.threads
@@ -1,16 +1,29 @@
 NOTE: This documentation describes the style of threading that was
-available in 5.005.  Perl v5.6 also has the early beginnings of
-interpreter-based threads support (which is what will be enabled by
-default when you simply ask for -Dusethreads).  However, be advised
-that interpreter threads cannot as yet be created from the Perl level
-yet.  If you're looking to create threads from within Perl, chances
-are you _don't_ want interpreter threads, but want the older support
-for threads described below, enabled with:
+available in Perl 5.005.  Perl 5.6.0 introduced the early beginnings of
+interpreter-based threads support, also known as ithreads, and in Perl
+5.8.0 the interpeter threads became available from perl level through
+the threads and threads::shared modules (in Perl 5.6 ithreads are
+available only internally and to XS extension builders, and used
+by the Win32 port for emulating fork()). As of Perl 5.8.0, ithreads has
+become the standard threading model for Perl.
+
+If you really want the older support for threads described below,
+it is enabled with:
 
     sh Configure -Dusethreads -Duse5005threads
 
+Be warned that the old 5.005 implementation of threads is known
+to be quite buggy, and unmaintained, which means that the bugs
+are there to stay.  (We are not mean by not fixing the bugs:
+the bugs are just really, really, really hard to fix.  Honest.)
+
 The rest of this document only applies to the use5005threads style of
-threads.
+threads, and the comments on what works on which platform are highly
+obsolete and preserved here for archaeology buffs only.  The
+architecture specific hints files do all the necessary option
+tweaking automatically during Configure, both for the 5.005 threads
+and for the new interpreter threads.
+
 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 Support for threading is still in the highly experimental stages.  There
@@ -98,7 +111,7 @@ For Digital Unix 4.x:
     Add -lpthread -lc_r to lddlflags
 
     For some reason, the extra includes for pthreads make Digital UNIX
-    complain fatally about the sbrk() delcaration in perl's malloc.c
+    complain fatally about the sbrk() declaration in perl's malloc.c
     so use the native malloc, e.g.  sh Configure -Uusemymalloc, or
     manually edit your config.sh as follows:
        Change usemymalloc to n
@@ -145,7 +158,7 @@ Now you can do a
     make
 
 When you succeed in compiling and testing ("make test" after your
-build) a threaded Perl in a platform previosuly unknown to support
+build) a threaded Perl in a platform previously unknown to support
 threaded perl, please let perlbug@perl.com know about your victory.
 Explain what you did in painful detail.
 
@@ -265,7 +278,7 @@ their associated mutex is held. (This constraint simplifies the
 implementation of condition variables in certain porting situations.)
 For POSIX threads, perl mutexes and condition variables correspond to
 POSIX ones.  For FAKE_THREADS, mutexes are stubs and condition variables
-are implmented as lists of waiting threads. For FAKE_THREADS, a thread
+are implemented as lists of waiting threads. For FAKE_THREADS, a thread
 waits on a condition variable by removing itself from the runnable
 list, calling SCHEDULE to change thr to the next appropriate
 runnable thread and returning op (i.e. the new threads next op).