cpan upgrade failing. Could use some help

gg48gg has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

I type upgrade at the cpan prompt and after a bunch of successful operations, I get...

...
The most recent version "1.09" of the module "SDBM_File"
is part of the perl-5.15.4 distribution. To install that, you need to 
+run
  force install SDBM_File   --or--
  install F/FL/FLORA/perl-5.15.4.tar.gz
Running make test
  Can't test without successful make
Running make install
  Make had returned bad status, install seems impossible
Scalar::Util is up to date (1.25).
Running install for module 'Sys::Hostname'
The most recent version "1.16" of the module "Sys::Hostname"
is part of the perl-5.15.4 distribution. To install that, you need to 
+run
  force install Sys::Hostname   --or--
  install F/FL/FLORA/perl-5.15.4.tar.gz
Running make test
  Can't test without successful make
Running make install
  Make had returned bad status, install seems impossible
Running install for module 'Tie::Array'
The most recent version "1.05" of the module "Tie::Array"
is part of the perl-5.15.4 distribution. To install that, you need to 
+run
  force install Tie::Array   --or--
  install F/FL/FLORA/perl-5.15.4.tar.gz
Running make test
  Can't test without successful make
Running make install
  Make had returned bad status, install seems impossible
Running install for module 'Tie::Hash'
The most recent version "1.04" of the module "Tie::Hash"
is part of the perl-5.15.4 distribution. To install that, you need to 
+run
  force install Tie::Hash   --or--
  install F/FL/FLORA/perl-5.15.4.tar.gz
Running make test
  Can't test without successful make
Running make install
  Make had returned bad status, install seems impossible
Running install for module 'Tie::Hash::NamedCapture'
The most recent version "0.08" of the module "Tie::Hash::NamedCapture"
is part of the perl-5.15.4 distribution. To install that, you need to 
+run
  force install Tie::Hash::NamedCapture   --or--
  install F/FL/FLORA/perl-5.15.4.tar.gz
Running make test
  Can't test without successful make
Running make install
  Make had returned bad status, install seems impossible
Running install for module 'UNIVERSAL'
The most recent version "1.09" of the module "UNIVERSAL"
is part of the perl-5.15.4 distribution. To install that, you need to 
+run
  force install UNIVERSAL   --or--
  install F/FL/FLORA/perl-5.15.4.tar.gz
Running make test
  Can't test without successful make
Running make install
  Make had returned bad status, install seems impossible
Running install for module 'Unicode::UCD'
The most recent version "0.36" of the module "Unicode::UCD"
is part of the perl-5.15.4 distribution. To install that, you need to 
+run
  force install Unicode::UCD   --or--
  install F/FL/FLORA/perl-5.15.4.tar.gz
Running make test
  Can't test without successful make
Running make install
  Make had returned bad status, install seems impossible
Running install for module 'attributes'
The most recent version "0.17" of the module "attributes"
is part of the perl-5.15.4 distribution. To install that, you need to 
+run
  force install attributes   --or--
  install F/FL/FLORA/perl-5.15.4.tar.gz
Running make test
  Can't test without successful make
Running make install
  Make had returned bad status, install seems impossible
Running install for module 'blib'
The most recent version "1.06" of the module "blib"
is part of the perl-5.15.4 distribution. To install that, you need to 
+run
  force install blib   --or--
  install F/FL/FLORA/perl-5.15.4.tar.gz
Running make test
  Can't test without successful make
Running make install
  Make had returned bad status, install seems impossible
Running install for module 'charnames'
The most recent version "1.23" of the module "charnames"
is part of the perl-5.15.4 distribution. To install that, you need to 
+run
  force install charnames   --or--
  install F/FL/FLORA/perl-5.15.4.tar.gz
Running make test
  Can't test without successful make
Running make install
  Make had returned bad status, install seems impossible
Running install for module 'deprecate'
The most recent version "0.02" of the module "deprecate"
is part of the perl-5.15.4 distribution. To install that, you need to 
+run
  force install deprecate   --or--
  install F/FL/FLORA/perl-5.15.4.tar.gz
Running make test
  Can't test without successful make
Running make install
  Make had returned bad status, install seems impossible
Running install for module 'diagnostics'
The most recent version "1.25" of the module "diagnostics"
is part of the perl-5.15.4 distribution. To install that, you need to 
+run
  force install diagnostics   --or--
  install F/FL/FLORA/perl-5.15.4.tar.gz
Running make test
  Can't test without successful make
Running make install
  Make had returned bad status, install seems impossible
Running install for module 'feature'
The most recent version "1.22" of the module "feature"
is part of the perl-5.15.4 distribution. To install that, you need to 
+run
  force install feature   --or--
  install F/FL/FLORA/perl-5.15.4.tar.gz
Running make test
  Can't test without successful make
Running make install
  Make had returned bad status, install seems impossible
Running install for module 'mro'
The most recent version "1.09" of the module "mro"
is part of the perl-5.15.4 distribution. To install that, you need to 
+run
  force install mro   --or--
  install F/FL/FLORA/perl-5.15.4.tar.gz
Running make test
  Can't test without successful make
Running make install
  Make had returned bad status, install seems impossible
Running install for module 'open'
The most recent version "1.10" of the module "open"
is part of the perl-5.15.4 distribution. To install that, you need to 
+run
  force install open   --or--
  install F/FL/FLORA/perl-5.15.4.tar.gz
Running make test
  Can't test without successful make
Running make install
  Make had returned bad status, install seems impossible
Running install for module 'overload'
The most recent version "1.15" of the module "overload"
is part of the perl-5.15.4 distribution. To install that, you need to 
+run
  force install overload   --or--
  install F/FL/FLORA/perl-5.15.4.tar.gz
Running make test
  Can't test without successful make
Running make install
  Make had returned bad status, install seems impossible
Running install for module 're'
The most recent version "0.18" of the module "re"
is part of the perl-5.15.4 distribution. To install that, you need to 
+run
  force install re   --or--
  install F/FL/FLORA/perl-5.15.4.tar.gz
Running make test
  Can't test without successful make
Running make install
  Make had returned bad status, install seems impossible
Running install for module 'sigtrap'
The most recent version "1.05" of the module "sigtrap"
is part of the perl-5.15.4 distribution. To install that, you need to 
+run
  force install sigtrap   --or--
  install F/FL/FLORA/perl-5.15.4.tar.gz
Running make test
  Can't test without successful make
Running make install
  Make had returned bad status, install seems impossible
Running install for module 'utf8'
The most recent version "1.09" of the module "utf8"
is part of the perl-5.15.4 distribution. To install that, you need to 
+run
  force install utf8   --or--
  install F/FL/FLORA/perl-5.15.4.tar.gz
Running make test
  Can't test without successful make
Running make install
  Make had returned bad status, install seems impossible
Running install for module 'vars'
The most recent version "1.02" of the module "vars"
is part of the perl-5.15.4 distribution. To install that, you need to 
+run
  force install vars   --or--
  install F/FL/FLORA/perl-5.15.4.tar.gz
Running make test
  Can't test without successful make
Running make install
  Make had returned bad status, install seems impossible
Running install for module 'vmsish'
The most recent version "1.03" of the module "vmsish"
is part of the perl-5.15.4 distribution. To install that, you need to 
+run
  force install vmsish   --or--
  install F/FL/FLORA/perl-5.15.4.tar.gz
Running make test
  Can't test without successful make
Running make install
  Make had returned bad status, install seems impossible
Running install for module 'warnings'
The most recent version "1.12" of the module "warnings"
is part of the perl-5.15.4 distribution. To install that, you need to 
+run
  force install warnings   --or--
  install F/FL/FLORA/perl-5.15.4.tar.gz
Running make test
  Can't test without successful make
Running make install
  Make had returned bad status, install seems impossible
Running install for module 'warnings::register'
The most recent version "1.02" of the module "warnings::register"
is part of the perl-5.15.4 distribution. To install that, you need to 
+run
  force install warnings::register   --or--
  install F/FL/FLORA/perl-5.15.4.tar.gz
Running make test
  Can't test without successful make
Running make install
  Make had returned bad status, install seems impossible
Could not read metadata file. Falling back to other methods to determi
+ne prerequisites
Failed during this command:
 PMQS/DB_File-1.826.tar.gz                    : make NO
 KGB/ExtUtils-F77-1.17.tar.gz                 : make_test NO
 NWCLARK/perl-5.8.6.tar.gz                    : make NO isa perl
 JESSE/perl-5.13.9.tar.gz                     : make NO isa perl
 GBARR/IO-Tty-0.04.tar.gz                     : writemakefile NO '/usr
+/bin/perl Makefile.PL' returned status 65280
 RJBS/perl-5.15.2.tar.bz2                     : make NO isa perl
 FLORA/perl-5.15.4.tar.gz                     : make NO isa perl
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Comment on cpan upgrade failing. Could use some help Download Code

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Re: cpan upgrade failing. Could use some help by zentara (Cardinal) on Jun 15, 2012 at 22:38 UTC
What don't you under stand about The most recent version "1.09" of the module "SDBM_File" is part of the perl-5.15.4 distribution. To install that, you need to +run force install SDBM_File --or-- install F/FL/FLORA/perl-5.15.4.tar.gz SDBM is not a separate cpan module anymore, it is part of Perl itself. You need to upgrade Perl to get the latest SDBM. That's how I interpret your error message, but I may be missing something. I'm not really a human, but I play one on earth. Old Perl Programmer Haiku ................... flash japh	[reply]
Re: cpan upgrade failing. Could use some help by syphilis (Archbishop) on Jun 16, 2012 at 01:34 UTC
I don't know what 'upgrade' is supposed to do and, after seeing all that garbage that it threw at you, it's very unlikely that I'll ever try testing it for myself. The most recent version "1.12" of the module "warnings" is part of the perl-5.15.4 distribution. That's just bullshit - perl-5.16.0 ships with version 1.13 of warnings. And the implication that you should install 5.15.4 is plain ludicrous. What are you trying to achieve ? Maybe there's a better way Cheers, Rob	[reply]
Re^2: cpan upgrade failing. Could use some help by Anonymous Monk on Jun 16, 2012 at 02:00 UTC
That's just bullshit - perl-5.16.0 ships with version 1.13 of warnings. And the implication that you should install 5.15.4 is plain ludicrous. Not that much, its merely stale data -- the modlist, etc, don't update itself	[reply]
Re^3: cpan upgrade failing. Could use some help by syphilis (Archbishop) on Jun 16, 2012 at 03:12 UTC
the modlist, etc, don't update itself Then the message that is being emitted should make it clear that it might not be up to date. Software that deliberately suggests to a user that an outdated devel version of perl be installed is something that I would classify as "malware". (Naturally, I do not believe this suggestion to be "deliberate".) Cheers, Rob	[reply]