On Wed, Jul 31, 2002 at 02:36:43PM -0300, Jeff MacDonald wrote: > > When you install freebsd or linux, is it a problem that all the > perl modules you need have to fetched from cpan ? why can't they > call just be part of the OS ?'
Well, not just part of the OS, but part of Perl. And after all, Perl _does_ include a fabulous variety of built-in modules. > likewise with dns servers, samba, apache etc.. this is a bit of a stretched > example > but the point is the same. Actually, the comparison is apt. There's a reason people suggest using your distribution's PHP or Zope or what-have-you packages, rather than installing from source: an inexperienced user with these packages could easily spend several days trying to figure out all the bits to install. Obviously, such people are new users, and a learning curve is expected. But given recent hand-wringing about the relative "mind-share" of Postgres &c., it seems perverse to make a new user have to find out (probably by asking on a mailing list) that basic stuff like client libraries are a whole separate package, which needs to be dealt with separately. It _would_ be nice, though, to be able to get just the client stuff for sure. And maybe the separation is worth it; I just want to be sure that people know the effect on users. A -- ---- Andrew Sullivan 87 Mowat Avenue Liberty RMS Toronto, Ontario Canada <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> M6K 3E3 +1 416 646 3304 x110 ---------------------------(end of broadcast)--------------------------- TIP 6: Have you searched our list archives? http://archives.postgresql.org