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cytzol

Member

Registered: 2007-06-27

Posts: 10

Would you install something from CPAN?

I'm writing an application in Perl. It uses modern Perl stuff - the Moose object system, Test::More, Module::Install, and a bunch of other modules that do what I need. This is great from the developer perspective - it's easy when half the code comes pre-written, and when I want to distribute, I just upload to the CPAN and everyone grabs it off there, with it handling dependencies and updates and all that fluff.

The problem shows itself if you haven't already got a Perl toolchain set up. The `cpan` program, which is used to install Perl stuff, needs a (skippable) configuration dance first, and after that, there's all the downloading/compiling/testing/installing needed for each module that's needed. That's a fair bit of time/bandwidth/disk space needed.

I know of Python's eggs and Ruby's gems, but from what I've seen they're not used nearly as much. CPAN has a 10-year tradition, and there's a lot on there that I'm used to working with. Would you install all that just to try something, or decide it's not worth it and not bother?

jcolinzheng

Member

From: Cambridge, MA

Registered: 2008-08-06

Posts: 50

Website

Re: Would you install something from CPAN?

Most people unfamiliar with CPAN would likely shun it, I think.
That's why Arch's repo has packages such as perl-moose (for Arch, perhaps in AUR).

But if you depend on a less popular module, it's perhaps a good idea to somehow include it in your package.

Xyne

Administrator/PM

Registered: 2008-08-03

Posts: 6,965

Website

Re: Would you install something from CPAN?

Is there a "standard" way to build packages from CPAN modules? If not, maybe it would be possible to get some CPAN-knowledgeable coders together to create some tools to do that.

*edit*
Sorry, I forgot to say that I agree with jcolinzheng... most people will probably be deterred by having to manually handle dependencies.

*edit2*
I've revived an ancient thread about creating packages from C?AN modules: http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=8214

Last edited by Xyne (2009-01-06 17:57:38)

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