so - how about a nice site about cool or new perl projects, kind of like freshmeat but without all the python and php crud ;)
Although CPAN provides some scripts and applications (such as Template Toolkit, Openframe and Autodia), it is more used for Modules and scripts and applications are kind of over-looked. I mean how many perl mongers associate CPAN with applications rather than modules?
I like the idea of a nice site somewhere between o reilly's opendir, cpan and freshmeat where you have blurb on a project, its documentation in a standard format ala cpan, standard installation ala cpan and project info ala sourceforge / freshmeat, perhaps even following the foundry idea in sourceforge too.
Is it worth it ? any other thoughts ?
There are several projects (such as http://www.movabletype.org/ - news / blog system) which I have only just come across - which are well coded perl systems.
The point being, it took me a long time to find this, having a central place (even just as a lookup database to start with) for existing perl projects would be great.
The ideal of having a single install process would be great, but probably take a long time to get running.
Re:Good idea...
TeeJay on 2003-03-11T14:08:14
There are only simple requirements for CPAN - I am sure we can build a basic system using PAR or rpm or Makefile.PL. I think using a common and/or subset of installation methods would really help perl application growth.It should be simple enough to build a blog with categories for things like Charting, Content Management, Blogs, etc. You could also search on equivilent eg enter phpnuke and you get slashcode, etc.
I don't think that's a good idea
When I am looking for libraries to help me code in Perl I go to CPAN, because the language of the library is indeed quite important. But when I am looking for a canned tool to do something, I could not care less in which language it is coded, as long as I can run it. So I go to Freshmeat.
Why would I limit myself to tools written in Perl? A random example: Mailman is a pretty good mailing list manager. The fact that it is written in Python does not prevent it from being used to manage perl monger lists Why would I want to use Majordomo (written in Perl) when Mailman is clearly superior?
Note also that you can browse all 2500+ Perl project on Freshmeat.
So why would we duplicate a system that exists and that works well?
Re:What would be the point?
autarch on 2003-03-11T17:46:37
If you think you're likely to want to customize a given app, having it be in Perl can be a plus. It's unlikely I'll ever tweak mailman much, because it'd require me to learn a whole new language just to do it. I use it anyway, of course, but it'd be cool if it was in Perl.
I think it's important to remember what the "C" in CPAN stands for. CPAN should be the one-stop shop for all your Perl code requirements.
It's true that CPAN is mostly used for modules (the
But, yes, the idea of having a centralised repository of Perl applications is a good one. Even if it starts off by just being a directory.
Re:_C_PAN
TeeJay on 2003-03-11T16:02:30
Definately a directory.I feel sure that many perl developers, as I did, do not release to CPAN for several reasons..
The problem freshmeat is that it is huge and searches don't always return what you are looking for, frequently you get a dozen cruddy php scripts obscuring a nice little perl script.
- Code Unreadiness, I put off uploading autodia until relatively recently - a directory would be able to warn that code is experimental.
- Size, Developers are usually reluctant to upload massive projects to CPAN, a directory will be for metadata.
- CPAN works very well for modules but seems less suited to applications - a directory would suit projects that don't map well to cpan because they are encumbered by licensing, strange installation, etc.
Also freshmeat doesn't offer any perl specific features such as Module or Version requirements, Testing and QA standards, or whatever perl developers want.
Essentially this is a scratch for two of my own itches - one for seeing where there are holes in the perl application basket, and two for finding applications that I know are in perl so that they can be integrated nicely in a perl environment.
I would also like to bundle some of the applications with articles - for example a tutorial on integrating cvsweb, bugzilla and blosxom as I did here - a handful of perl applications that integrate very easily.
Re:_C_PAN
mir on 2003-03-11T22:45:47
The problem freshmeat is that it is huge and searches don't always return what you are looking for, frequently you get a dozen cruddy php scripts obscuring a nice little perl script.I am sorry, but this is pure biggotery. As much as I love Perl, the fact that a piece of software is written in Perl or in PHP tells me nothing about its quality.
Re:_C_PAN
TeeJay on 2003-03-12T13:38:44
Not really.I have actually found this problem in real projects.
Why would I want to install mod_php on my server for the sake of a script written in a dodgy language by somebody who obviously thinks that decent variable scoping, namespaces, modules etc aren't worth it.
Integrating perl applications is nice - when you have a bunch of tools written in perl you can add your own custom configuration and code-sharing / integration with a couple of perl modules.
Re:_C_PAN
inkdroid on 2003-03-11T19:19:55
I'm not sure that Perl needs an archiving solution for the various software projects. CPAN, SourceForge do quite well at this. But I think that more has to be done to highlight quality open source applications that use Perl. Perhaps an area of use.perl.org would work?
