Having been asked to write an enhancement to an existing CPAN module (CGI::Wiki::Kwiki), I find that its MANIFEST contains both a Build.PL and a Makefile.PL, which contain a different list of prerequisites.

I also know that this module has been worked on by more than one person. I just wonder what the currently accepted wisdom is for modules that offer both Build.PL and Makefile.PL for backwards compatibility.

I also wonder if I should just fix the dependency list in both scripts, or adopt a different mechanism in the module patch I am working on.

There are also wider issues involved, such as whether Module::Build needs to be installed on the target machine. With the current, traditional method, installing does not require Module::Build.

Note: I know it's a touchy subject with some people, but this is not an invitation for a flame war, as happened with this post. I am a fan of Module::Build, as is apparent from my review of this module. Do you agree with the second anonymonk's reply to this review?

--
I'm Not Just Another Perl Hacker

Update: The Makefile.PL contains a comment at the top, to indicate that is was generated by Module::Build::Compat->create_makefile_pl. Clearly, anyone updating this module needs to re-invoke this if they change Build.PL - this clearly does not happen automatically.

From the POD to Module::Build::Compat, the style used is 'traditional'. Maybe a call to create_makefile_pl needs to go inside Build.PL somewhere as an action. Thoughts please.

In reply to Module::Build compatibility woes by rinceWind

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