By doing the same thing that you do with every other decision about a product you make in your life (both professional and personal) - you ask people you trust for their opinion.

As far as when you should use CPAN - I always look on CPAN first and ask around whenever I run into something that requires some thought. Now, I have a really good idea of what's on CPAN when it comes to the kind of work I do and I know the people who work on it. Just like anything else in life, you should know who's building the stuff you depend on.

My criteria for good software:
  1. Does it work?
  2. Can someone else come in, make a change, and be reasonably certain no bugs were introduced?

In reply to Re^6: Module Bloat and the Best Solution by dragonchild
in thread Module Bloat and the Best Solution by KurtSchwind

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