Updating CamelPack, or how to get ActiveState to use CPAN

John M. Dlugosz has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

I installed Perl on a new Vista notebook via CamelPack, which includes ActiveState Perl 5.8.7 build 815, dev-cpp 4.9.9.2, and nmake, preconfigured to work with CPAN.

How can I update ActiveState Perl to the current version while still maintaining the ability to use CPAN? I have no idea what it entails to make it "work right" with CPAN, only that it was always an issue with ActiveState/Windows.

—John

Comment on Updating CamelPack, or how to get ActiveState to use CPAN

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: Updating CamelPack, or how to get ActiveState to use CPAN by NetWallah (Canon) on Feb 20, 2008 at 01:59 UTC
Active perl 5.10.o includes the cpan command. See the online CPAN command line documentation for activeperl 5.10. On Windows, with Activestate perl, it is more canonical, consistent, and easier to use ppm in preference to CPAN, unless you use very esoteric modules. "As you get older three things happen. The first is your memory goes, and I can't remember the other two... " - Sir Norman Wisdom	[reply]
Re^2: Updating CamelPack, or how to get ActiveState to use CPAN by CountZero (Bishop) on Feb 20, 2008 at 08:15 UTC
Once you have installed a compatible compiler (I use MinGW) and nmake, ActiveState's cpan is happy to use it with good results. Only in the most extreme circumstances I have to revert to using ppm. As I have a daily updated mini-cpan on my harddisk, I can almost always install any needed modules (except when they need external non-perl libraries and such) wherever I may be. It would be much more difficult to do so if you only rely on ppm. CountZero A program should be light and agile, its subroutines connected like a string of pearls. The spirit and intent of the program should be retained throughout. There should be neither too little or too much, neither needless loops nor useless variables, neither lack of structure nor overwhelming rigidity." - The Tao of Programming, 4.1 - Geoffrey James	[reply]
Re^2: Updating CamelPack, or how to get ActiveState to use CPAN by John M. Dlugosz (Monsignor) on Feb 21, 2008 at 01:04 UTC
But I never find what I'm looking for on PPM. I have to hunt for someone else's repository, if it exists at all.	[reply]
Re^3: Updating CamelPack, or how to get ActiveState to use CPAN by CountZero (Bishop) on Feb 21, 2008 at 07:09 UTC
Very much so! That's why I find that `cpan` should be your first try, even on a Windows AS Perl system. CountZero A program should be light and agile, its subroutines connected like a string of pearls. The spirit and intent of the program should be retained throughout. There should be neither too little or too much, neither needless loops nor useless variables, neither lack of structure nor overwhelming rigidity." - The Tao of Programming, 4.1 - Geoffrey James	[reply] [d/l]