Re: [MacPerl-Porters] Identifying Ported Modules

[Chris Nandor <pudge@pobox.com>]

At 00.19 -0600 2000.01.10, Matthew Langford wrote:
>But Case 1 may not go away:  as I understand it, the standard MacOS X
>install won't include egcs/gcc.  Has this changed?

I don't think it matters.  Solaris doesn't come with any compiler at all,
but it is rare to find a Solaris box without one (in my experience).  You
download a binary installation, then either use it or build your own.


>CPAN.pm/installme _should_ recognize this obvious and somewhat common
>breaking point on MacOS:  an XS file but no Mac build.

But some modules might be installable and usable anyway, even if they
contain an XS file.  I'd prefer to leave it to the user to decide.  The
user is warned about XS, and it is easy to see if XS files are present.
I'm not going to add something halting installation.  There already IS a
warning present: the README and the printout of the file listing which
shows any XS files.  If you are not sure if it will work, you first do a
get Module, then you inspect it, then you decide to install Module or not.


>Even after MacOS X
>arrives, CPAN.pm/installme can test for the existence of a compiler
>(maybe it should be an ENV var set by the MacPerl/Perl install?).

When you configure CPAN.pm on a Unix box, you tell it where your compiler
is.  If you don't give it one, your makes will fail.


What I _would_ like to see is integration of CPAN.pm with the binary
builds.  It knows you are using $^O eq 'MacOS' and when you ask to download
Compress::Zlib it checks to see if there is a binary build, and if so,
fetches it for you instead of the main distribution (there would be a
preference for this behavior, or a prompt asking which to fetch, or both).
I have at least twice suggested it to the modules@perl.org people, saying
that if this sounded good to them I would work on the code, but I never
really got a response, aside from a couple of mails.  It would take
cooperation with them, and I won't work on it if they aren't going to
support it.  And I don't have the time (anymore) to work on it now.  The
window of opportunity has passed, though I am sure it will come around
again.

And as Paul, I also would not want to do significant work that would
rendered obsolete by MacPerl 5.6.  Work has already begun on it, and I'd
personally rather put my limited resources into it, instead.

I suggest, though, that you send some mail to modules@perl.org about a
system for using ported modules with CPAN.  Maybe it will get the ball
rolling again.  If they get bugged enough, they might let it back on their
radar.

-- 
Chris Nandor          mailto:pudge@pobox.com         http://pudge.net/
%PGPKey = ('B76E72AD', [1024, '0824090B CE73CA10  1FF77F13 8180B6B6'])

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