A database where the community can do the categorisation?

I'm for this option, preferably wiki-ish to lower the barriers for contribution and change.

I've thought about this before and I think trying to get to tasks rather than categories -- or hierarchies of tasks -- might be the way to go.

A good model might be something along the lines of the Perl Cookbook or Advanced Perl Programming (2ed).

E.g.:

Q: How do I find all the module dependencies of another module or prog
+ram?

A1 -- if you are willing to execute the module or program:

# discussion of those modules

A2 -- if you don't want to execute the module or program:

# discussion of those modules
[download]

I think this would allow for a fuller community discussion of leading candidates and pros/cons of different modules. Part of the problem with search is the sheer number of options for some common tasks and the lack of context for what works well, what other people find useful, what is well-maintained, etc.

cpanratings, CPANTS, annocpan and bugcounts on RT help somewhat, but those still have to be navigated module-by-module to get any detail. (Thankfully, search.cpan.org does provide some summary of information of those.)

I've seen some attempts at this scattered around the web. Some examples include:

• CGI frameworks

• Template system comparisons

• Object persistence

• P5EE recommendations

It would be nice to see one centralized, sanctioned place to collect these kinds of comparisons.

So how about it? Anyone else for cookbook.cpan.org?