All the Perl that's Practical to Extract and Report

CPAN Meeting

acme on 2003-09-23T00:07:14

So it's all been a little hectic and crazy recently. On Thursday we had a London.pm technical meet and it was really quite good. I like the fact that we have lots of short talks about cool little things.

I gave a short talk about a CPAN Meeting that is happening in two weeks. It's happening because the CPAN cabal hasn't met up in conferences this year and things need to be done. It's happening at my parent's place in Notting Hill and a lot of important CPAN-infrastructure discussions will take place. The meeting will be packed, but we all know that all the important decisions will be made during the beer track where everyone is welcome to attend. Most people will be around for the London.pm social meeting, so that'll be fun. I have just one thing to say about CPAN: metadata.

I generally think there are too many hidden things in the Perl world. I'm all for transparency. Hence my talk and this journal. I'll write up how it all goes too. If you have any serious ideas about CPAN, please comment on this entry and I'll bring it up during the meeting.

Anway, so I was around Amsterdam on Friday for work stuff and I met up with Jos and had a lot of fun. He obviously wants me to hack on CPANPLUS ;-) Jos and Ann are great hosts, and I'm not saying that just because he's my owner...

Too much hidden

autarch on 2003-09-23T03:38:54

I agree, it's too hard to contribute to too many Perl things.

It'd be really cool if the various core parts of the Perl world made publically available. I specifically mean the code for PAUSE and search.cpan.org. I appreciate Andreas' and Graham's hard work, but it'd be cool if people who had an itch with these services could scratch it.

Of course, maybe they already are public, but I've been pretty involved in Perl for several years and I've not heard of it, so if they are public they're not well publicized.

Re:Too much hidden

hfb on 2003-09-23T07:17:31

The code for PAUSE is public, just look at the listed directories on the pause rsync.

Re:Too much hidden

autarch on 2003-09-23T16:38:10

Oh, of course, the listed directories on the pause rsync!

Um, what?

However, I did some digging and I did find a link to a subversion repo in the PAUSE news. Still, it might not be a bad idea to display this more prominently. Of course, now I can send a patch ;)

So one down, search.cpan.org to go.

Re:Too much hidden

hfb on 2003-09-23T20:42:15

Perhaps asking is too hard? :) That's how I found out. It is always the most obvious things that people find most mysterious anyway. There wouldn't be FAQ's if that weren't true :)

Re:Too much hidden

autarch on 2003-09-24T05:20:40

Well, my point was that these things, even if they are publically available, are not well publicized, so indeed asking is too hard!

Anyway, I sent Andreas a patch to mention the subversion repo for PAUSE in a more obvious spot on the site.

Re:Too much hidden

hfb on 2003-09-24T07:02:27

People frequently ask where the CPAN binary and where the perl source is fairly often too. I'm just saying it's really not such a big deal and that most people who want the source know who to ask.

Re:Too much hidden

hfb on 2003-09-23T11:01:10

Actually, this sort of reminds me of the scene in the Two Towers where they are trying to enter Moria if only they could figure out that which is obvious instead of trying to impugne deep cleverness and secrecy into the solution which seems altogether too common in puny hoomans.

Re:Too much hidden

rafael on 2003-09-23T11:51:11

There's slapstick in the Two Towers ??

Re:Too much hidden

pudge on 2003-09-23T23:28:45

That was FotR, not tTT. :-)

Re:Too much hidden

hfb on 2003-09-24T06:58:14

SEE! :)

I suppose

hfb on 2003-09-23T07:24:32

you're writing this because I'm a bit unhappy that it has become quite so public rather than the quiet and subdued meeting for those working on particular things directly related to CPAN that I had originally envisioned and the frequent mentioning of 'cabal' to accompany all the fanfare that seems to have built up around it.

Opinions are like assholes, especially where CPAN is concerned and things can be made too public when there is so little time to cover so many pressing topics.

You are something of a hippocrite 'Mr I've got a secret and I'll blog all about it and not say anything until it has been announced'.

tres-important divertissements and disportments

TorgoX on 2003-09-23T08:06:12

I gave a short talk about a CPAN Meeting that is happening in two weeks. It's happening because the CPAN cabal hasn't met up in conferences this year and things need to be done. It's happening at my parent's place in Notting Hill and a lot of important CPAN-infrastructure discussions will take place.

In Notting Hill shall the courtesans and gentlefops rule upon the metadata! Ooooh delight!