I released a module called Math::Units back in
1998. Several people commented that it didn't
really belong there and that Convert::Units
would be better. I agreed to move it -- I
planned to move it on my next release.
Unfortunately that never happened because I
didn't *need* to make another release right
away.
A few days back I was sent a patch and decided
to make a new release under the new name.
Surprise! Somebody's already snagged the
Convert::Units namespace. Yeah, I know I caused
the mess. I appologize for that.
I've spoken with the owner, Robert Rothenberg,
and it looks like we're going to work something
out. It might be a merge or just peaceful
co-existence. ;)
Does anybody have any advice for:
How to merge modules together or otherwise
share a namespace between several authors? I
think there was recently a big effort to merge
time/date modules. Any lessons I should take
from that?
How to find all the affected people? Authors
of related modules, users of unit modules, etc?
Neither Robert or I are really keen on breaking
code by moving around modules.
Any tips for keeping up on how/where a module
is used or referred to? Frankly I was surprised
that Convert::Units existed, even though Robert
knew about (and referred to!) my Math::Units
module. I was also surprised to find out that
Math::Units was being actively used even though
I never advertised it.
Thanks,
- Ken
