I like to use the CPAN shell's readme command to check out unfamiliar modules. I tend to make my first judgement of quality from it.

I like to see:

  1. A description of the purpose and scope of the module.
  2. Optionally, a comparison to other similar modules.
  3. Installation instructions, abbreviated if there is an INSTALL file.
  4. A list of prerequisites, both Perl modules and system libraries (important!)
  5. Credits: who's writing and patching the module.
  6. Contact information, including homepage.

A text copy of the perldoc output is sometimes verbose, but if the pod quality is good it tells me about all I need to know about the module. I'd prefer a shorter specially-written README but I don't hold a doc copy against the module.

After Compline,
Zaxo

In reply to Re: What should be in the README for a module? by Zaxo
in thread What should be in the README for a module? by rinceWind

Title:
Use:  <p> text here (a paragraph) </p>
and:  <code> code here </code>
to format your post, it's "PerlMonks-approved HTML":


  • Posts are HTML formatted. Put <p> </p> tags around your paragraphs. Put <code> </code> tags around your code and data!
  • Titles consisting of a single word are discouraged, and in most cases are disallowed outright.
  • Read Where should I post X? if you're not absolutely sure you're posting in the right place.
  • Please read these before you post! —
  • Posts may use any of the Perl Monks Approved HTML tags:
    a, abbr, b, big, blockquote, br, caption, center, col, colgroup, dd, del, details, div, dl, dt, em, font, h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, hr, i, ins, li, ol, p, pre, readmore, small, span, spoiler, strike, strong, sub, summary, sup, table, tbody, td, tfoot, th, thead, tr, tt, u, ul, wbr
  • You may need to use entities for some characters, as follows. (Exception: Within code tags, you can put the characters literally.)
            For:     Use:
    & &amp;
    < &lt;
    > &gt;
    [ &#91;
    ] &#93;
  • Link using PerlMonks shortcuts! What shortcuts can I use for linking?
  • See Writeup Formatting Tips and other pages linked from there for more info.