in reply to Acme::Lingua::Pirate::Perl author needs encouragement to add Makefile.PL

I don't neccessarily agree with Randal's choice of wording, or his sentiment, but he has a valid point, that bears some discussion...

Module::Build may be the latest greatest thing in building perl modules, but it seems to me (and aparently at least a few other people) that untill the release version of CPAN.pm supports it, modules posted to CPAN should include a Makefile.PL.

If someone wants to release some perl code on their www site that has special instructions for installing it, fine ... that's their choice. But I like to think that CPAN modules should be held to a slightly higher standard in which there is an expectation that it can be installed as easily as any other module using the CPAN.pm shell.

If I release a distribution on CPAN that was encoded in such a way that required special knowledge in order to install it (either a magic decryption string, or a lot of time pooring over the code to figure out how it was encoded and how to get arround it) would that be an appropriate use of CPAN? ... would it be fair to the perl community at large that I had released a module in such a way that novice users wouldn't be able to install it using the standard installation tools?

This doesn't seem any different. Yes it's an Acme module, and sure there are more inportant things in the world to worry about then this one module ... but it's prompted my curiosity: at what point does a CPAN distribution become "unacceptable" to the perl community?

  • Comment on Re: Acme::Lingua::Pirate::Perl author needs encouragement to add Makefile.PL

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Re: Acme::Lingua::Pirate::Perl author needs encouragement to add Makefile.PL
by Abigail-II (Bishop) on Sep 18, 2003 at 07:28 UTC
    would it be fair to the perl community at large that I had released a module in such a way that novice users wouldn't be able to install it using the standard installation tools?

    Now you sound if you have some obligation to some "community". Instead of worrying about things that are on CPAN, worry about all those modules you haven't written yet. You think it would be fair to the Perl community at large that you had not released a module at all?

    CPAN has just one requirement: uploaded code should be freely distributable. That's all. No requirement that it should support CPAN.pm, CPANPLUS.pm, MakeMaker or Module::Build. It's following the Perl spirit, it's only asking you to be nice. But you don't have to.

    Abigail

[reply]
      Now you sound if you have some obligation to some "community"...CPAN has just one requirement: uploaded code should be freely distributable. That's all. No requirement that it should support CPAN.pm, CPANPLUS.pm, MakeMaker or Module::Build. It's following the Perl spirit, it's only asking you to be nice. But you don't have to.
      So is it OK to put intentional malware on CPAN as long as the license is acceptable?

      For anything that is meant to be useful for a community, there is a point when community mores naturally come into play. I think that it is fair to expect that code placed on CPAN should make a good faith attempt to be easily installable on most systems or have documented why it is not.

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        So is it OK to put intentional malware on CPAN as long as the license is acceptable?

        Probably not, but not having a Makefile.PL doesn't make it "intentional malware".

        For anything that is meant to be useful for a community,

        Not everything placed on CPAN is meant to be useful for a community. Some people place code on CPAN because the code was useful for them, and they just put it there because it might be useful for others. But it isn't driven by the mentality of "doing it for the good of the community".

        I don't believe in this "community" thing. I just happen to work with Perl and I'm willing to share some my code, experience and knowledge. But I only doing because it make me feel good, and not because of some sixties "community" idea where I'd feel obliged to service them according to some rulebook.

        Abigail

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Re: Re: Acme::Lingua::Pirate::Perl author needs encouragement to add Makefile.PL
by Anonymous Monk on Sep 17, 2003 at 18:05 UTC
    I think it is perfectly acceptable to put a module on CPAN that includes no automated installation and just tells you to copy the relevant file(s) to the relevant locations. There have been, and very probably still are, such modules on CPAN.

    Besides, using Module::Build only adds a prerequisite to installing your module. Many modules require that you first download other modules before building and installing. How is this different except that the CPAN module doesn't support it. (gad, who really uses CPAN for anything other than searching and downloading modules anyway, doesn't anyone look at sources before running make anymore?)

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