This looks like a wonderful idea. But I do have one question which perhaps you can answer in your documentation. How do I use this? I know, I know - the synopsis says how to use it. But what I mean is ... how do I do that? How do I take advantage of this technology (for that really is what it is) in my XS-based module distribution?

Specifically, what steps must I, as a module author, take to take advantage of your hard work (and generosity)?

In that answer, I hope you include details such as what if the target machine does not (yet) have ExtUtils::Autoconf installed yet, and how this might work within CPAN to automatically grab ExtUtils::Autoconf and then proceed from there. I mention this specifically because I suspect that you envision this to be called from Makefile.PL from CPAN, but if I use ExtUtils::Autoconf from within Makefile.PL, won't Makefile.PL fail to even compile before getting to tell CPAN what its prereqs are? But, if you merely call eval { require ExtUtils::Autoconf; ... }, then the Makefile will be created by CPAN, it'll go off to install EU::A, and come back to a Makefile that doesn't take into consideration all this? This would seem to be a catch-22.

However, I don't know that this is how this works. I'm just supposing it based on the most obvious way to me to implement it - you may be long past this point in your development and design, so please - don't just tell me, put it in the docs :-)

Thanks! (PS: ++! Autoconf == good! ;-})