This was originally posted to my journal, but I think it's important enough that it should be posted here.

No names, but if you happen to be sitting on modules which other people depend on and you're not going to fix bugs, give up the module, offer someone co-maintainership or figure out something which gives users a way out. I realize that not everyone has a pile of free time to constantly upgrade and maintain modules, but if it's something widely used and you don't have time for it, isn't the responsible thing to find a way to get those bug fixes out there?

When I say "bugs", I primarily mean bugs reported via RT. If you report them on AnnoCPAN, Perlmonks, or even private email to the author, those really shouldn't count as module authors cannot be expected to track down all of those various resources and remember them (and I know I probably have more than on bug report buried in my email, but damned if I can find 'em).

So please, if you maintain modules that others depend on and there are known, reported bugs for your module(s) that you're not fixing, make it possible that they can be fixed. Otherwise, users are forced to fork the code, have locally patched copies or engage in hideous workarounds. Don't do that to your users!

Cheers,
Ovid

New address of my CGI Course.

In reply to Give up your modules! by Ovid

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