For many people, search.cpan.org is CPAN. It is very easy to take it for granted. It's always there and it just works. It allows us to find modules, read their documentation, track version histories and even just plain read the source - with ease. Through links to other sites in the perl.org stable, it also allows us to easily check test results for a distribution, report and review bugs and patches, share ratings and reviews, annotate the documentation and all the other things I've forgotten.
I was reminded of the awesome coolness of search.cpan.org as I was wading through RubyForge for a project I'm currently working on. The contrast was stark. And it's not that RubyForge is terrible, in fact it does a reasonable job. But it's not awesomely cool.
Thanks Graham and everyone else involved
