perl patches and CPAN module compatilbility

jbracey has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

hello all - Sorry if this is a noob question. Let me know if there's somewhere I missed when searching for this answer. We are getting ready to install a patch for Perl on one of our Redhat servers, going from perl-5.8.8-32.el5_5.1 to perl-5.8.8-32.el5_6.3. Is there somewhere I can check to see if any of my currently installed perl modules will be adversely affected by a new patch? Or do I need to search out each module? Or do we have to break it to find it? Thanks in advance.

Comment on perl patches and CPAN module compatilbility

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Re: perl patches and CPAN module compatilbility by Anonymous Monk on Jun 14, 2011 at 22:23 UTC
Is there somewhere I can check to see if any of my currently installed perl modules will be adversely affected by a new patch? They call those release notes or a Changes file. Perl calls it a perldelta (see also perldeltas) I have no idea where redhat keeps their equivalent of release notes. Or do I need to search out each module? perldelta lists short summary of differences from the previous release ( p588-Modules_and_Pragmata), so yes, you would have to search out each module for a more detailed information. Your vendor, redhat, might also adds extra modules, those won't be documented in perldelta. Or do we have to break it to find it? You should be running a comprehensive test suite of your software after each upgrade, its the only way to know if something breaks	[reply]
Re^2: perl patches and CPAN module compatilbility by jbracey (Initiate) on Jun 14, 2011 at 22:56 UTC
thank you very much, I'll check out perldelta.	[reply]
Re^3: perl patches and CPAN module compatilbility by Tux (Canon) on Jun 15, 2011 at 06:07 UTC
You misinterpreted the given information. You will not find any information regarding these patches in the perldelta, as this document describes the changes in perl itself between versions. E.g. what has been changed or added from 5.8.7 to 5.8.8. What you are looking for is what RedHat changed under the hood to 5.8.8, and that should be found in the description of those patches - if available at all. FWIW, it could be that there are no visible changes at all. I recently delved into such a patch from OpenSUSE, and found that the only change was textual in the build description file. My hunch is that this patch from RedHat will not have any influence on your modules at all. Enjoy, Have FUN! H.Merijn	[reply]