[doc] perl pack rephrase

[poti1]

Where
perlpack

Description
Please rephrase the second part of the sentence:

"Let's use unpack, since this is likely to remind you of a dump program, or some desperate last message unfortunate programs are wont to throw at you before they expire into the wild blue yonder."

[mauke]

Why?

[poti1]

Ok. Otherwise, can you please explain what the sentence is saying?

I am a native English speaker and have read that sentence now ten times and still do not understand it entirely.

[mauke]

Does this help?

... this is likely to remind you of [...] some desperate message [that] <unfortunate programs> <are wont> <to throw at you> before they expire ...

This is a relative sub-clause attached to "desperate message". Within the sub-clause, "unfortunate programs" is the subject and "are wont (to throw)" is the verb.

It is talking about hex dumps and crash dumps, both of which may show binary data encoded as hexadecimal digits. (In fact, "expire into the wild blue yonder" is probably a reference to the Windows "blue screen of death"; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Windows_NT_3.51_BSOD_ita.png.)