Progress -- writing the bits of the thing that will be using _calc_schema_value (the sub called _calc_schema) this morning went well. Didn't finish, but it's a good start.
I'd have written more of that, but I ended up writing some subs I really should have had from the start -- a pretty-printer for the matrix object's main data structure, $matrix->{MATRIX}, and a couple of accessors I apparently forgot. (Planning isn't my strong suit. Can you tell?) Instead of looking at Data::Dumper output (which is useful, don't get me wrong) I can actually look at something which visually matches what I'm scribbling on paper, and it's been a huge help. Next time I need to write stuff like this right after writing the tiny, do-little-thing subs, and then I'll be ready to write the big stuff.
I did manage to burn a copy of Slack 8.0, so I've got something to work with until Slack 9.1 arrives in the mail. (Thanks again, Mr. Muskrat!) Now, I just need to get the chutzpah to actually back up all my data, wipe my drive, fix it (there's apparently a few problems in some of the last few sectors, something that's prevented me from defragmenting it ever) and partition the frickin' thing.
Right now, just from guesswork, I'm planning to cut the drive roughly in half for each OS, 30 gigs for each. We'll see which side cries uncle first. :)
