* On Mon, Aug 17 2009, Zbigniew Lukasiak wrote: > Optional features are not well suited for automated install. They > impose questions on the install - but what is more important they > generate problems when for down-stream modules that rely on the > optional features. There is no easy way to specify this - and also if > those optional features depend on installation of some optional > prerequisites - then the down-stream module have no way to determine > which ones of the optional prereqs are needed for the feature it > depends on (and if that optional feature relies on another optional > feature in one of the prerequisites - then the situation is completely > non-transparent for the down-stream module author).
I agree completely, this has been bugging me for a while. Personally, I never do optional features anymore. I just make the extra features mandatory. If they can install my module, they can probably install anything it depends on. If not, they can send me a patch to split out the optional feature into a new distribution. But this has never been necessary. Regards, Jonathan Rockway -- print just => another => perl => hacker => if $,=$"