I definitely would have solved this by making a more regular script, I'm not familiar enough with h2xs and MakeMaker to even conceptualize a solution this way. Nodes like this is one of the reasons that I read PM, they shows me new ways of approaching and solving problems.

After reading this I feel like nodding sagely, pulling a hood over my head and going back to my room so that I can ponder the mysteries of ExtUtils::MakeMaker. Something about this non-standard use of Perl made me think of this article on DeveloperWorks about making Linux boot faster by using make to manage dependencies within startup scripts.

I remember that article, and make can be used for dependancy resolution outside of compiling...true....however this cries out for regular script use, IMHO. I am in agreement with you that "things that make me think are good" of course -- this is why I'm here as well. If it was just Q&A it would be a boring place.

This is getting me on a usability aspect. This scripts seems to act so very unlike every single Unix utility out there, and if written another way, users would never have to deal with the readme at all. This includes help if the arguments are wrong, using things like GetOpt::Long or GetOpt::Std, etc. Thus it becomes (to the user) "that Perl abomination" rather than a cool use of perl. Keep it simple by following convention, and let folks learn it is Perl after the fact.

My favorite comment from frozen-bubble: "Yes, it's written in Perl, you non-believers..."

That's my perl design philosophy.