I have some module management scripts that rely on the .packlist files that are put in place by ExtUtils::MakeMaker. These contain useful information by way of a list of deliverables for each module distribution.

I've recently installed DBIx::Class, which has pulled in some of the newer modules which make use of Module::Build. Sadly, some of these modules don't put a .packlist in place, leaving my module management scripts clueless as to where the new .pm files have come from.

I would have thought that packlists would be a standard mechanism that comes for free with Module::Build for ./Build install. Maybe this is so, but the module authors are rolling their own actions and bypassing the packlist generation. I don't know the guts of Module::Build well enough to tell which is the case.

Or maybe, packlists are deprecated and dying - if so, this is news to me, as I find the information quite useful.

So, my question is: can I rely on the mechanism of packlists to manage CPAN modules after installation? I am aware that external package managers, such as Debian apt or ActiveState ppm don't maintain packlists, but they have their own metadata recording package installation states and manifests.

Maybe I should be looking at the META.yml 'provides' key, but this file is missing from many module distributions.

--

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My friends all rate Windows, I must disagree.
Your powers of persuasion will set them all free,
So oh Lord, won’t you burn me a Knoppix CD ?
(Missquoting Janis Joplin)

In reply to packlists and Module::Build by rinceWind

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