Flame has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

I was just poking around CPAN recently when I noticed that the packages IniFile and Config::Ini had been removed. Being the curious sort (and one that happens to use that module) I looked around, and it appears that everything by that author has vanished. I'm just asking if anyone has any idea what happened.

http://search.cpan.org/doc/AVATAR/ (This link used to point to his page)


"Weird things happen, get used to it."

Flame ~ Lead Programmer: GMS

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: Config::Ini and IniFile on CPAN?
by Kanji (Parson) on May 12, 2002 at 05:02 UTC
[reply]
Re: Config::Ini and IniFile on CPAN?
by belg4mit (Prior) on May 12, 2002 at 05:19 UTC
    The CPAN account still has other things there, it is possible the auther simply felt that the many other INI capable modules (also AppConfig) were sufficient. PAUSE is suggesting that authors delete old things (to keep the archive under 650 MB)

    --
    perl -pew "s/\b;([mnst])/'$1/g"

[reply]
      Well, you see, that leads me to a new problem... I was developing a program that was approaching release that used IniFile, however now that it's gone, I can't really ask people to install it can I?


      "Weird things happen, get used to it."

      Flame ~ Lead Programmer: GMS

[reply]
        You might want to peek at Config::IniFiles. I don't have the old module in front of me, but perhaps it may be of some use. Oh woe to the dissappearing dependancies.

            --jb
[reply]
        TIMTOWTDI. As I pointed out, there are other modules.

        --
        perl -pew "s/\b;([mnst])/'$1/g"

[reply]
      Whether or not there are other modules available really isn't the point. I think it's rather bad form to remove a module that people are actively using. I have code that's "in the wild" that uses Config::Ini. Now, that code is effectively broken. The users can't be expected to port it to AppConfig or another config module. I can understand removing old versions and even dropping support but if modules can just disappear, then I will certainly reconsider my use of CPAN.
[reply]
        It is the point in this case, this is software currently under development (or at least that was the impression I got from Flame, perhaps in the CB?). Yes, it's probably not best to remove *every* version of something. On the other hand, CPAN is more like your local public library than the Library of Congress; they can't be expected to keep everything for all time. If your code is "in the wild", isn't it already functional, all dependencies met? Besides it's generally a good idea to keep a virgin copy of the software you use. As Kanji mentioned Backpan (.../AVATAR). Oh, and finally, this would also be a place were code abstraction would be a Good Thing ;-)

        --
        perl -pew "s/\b;([mnst])/'$1/g"

[reply]
      PAUSE is suggesting that authors delete old things (to keep the archive under 650 MB)

      I must have missed the memo. Do you have a link to this suggestion?

      -sam

[reply]
        The actual suggestion was "CDROMable", I cannot it locate at this time, IIRC it was on the Delete Files page. You don't have to take my word though, feel free to contact Andreas (I have sent him a message myself actually). (Now that I think about it though, it may be triggered by some threshold which I have fallen below since I did delete some things...)

        --
        perl -pew "s/\b;([mnst])/'$1/g"

[reply]

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