# from David Golden
# on Saturday 23 January 2010 15:11:
># from Marvin Humphrey
>>I've got ... a passthrough Makefile.PL. Should I zap it?
>To clarify - the real issue with M::B::Compat in passthrough mode is
> that we have to emulate the api perfectly and that's a big source of
> bugs.
Passthrough was always buggy in some case or another (and the bugs drift
around a lot), but it gave you a compatibility layer for the case where
you're using M::B features that can't be handled in a "traditional"
Makefile.PL.
A lot of the problems are caused by old CPAN clients, or old defaults
which have gone stale in the config file. The rock and the hard place
are:
rock: prefer_installer is set to old default (EUMM)
hard place: old client invents Makefile.PL from thin air
Because upgrading CPAN.pm won't change the configs (because it can't
know if you meant it or took its earlier bad advice), there are a lot
of rocks to bump into.
If you want to encourage these users to upgrade their CPAN.pm and/or fix
their configs, deleting the Makefile.PL may be the best route. (I've
released a few dists with a die in the Makefile.PL explaining how to
run Build.PL -- but I think rocks far outnumber hard places by now, so
not sure if it has done much good.)
If you're not using any M::B-only features and the "traditional"
Makefile.PL generation works for you, just do that and you won't get
complaints even in 1999.
--Eric
--
Issues of control, repair, improvement, cost, or just plain
understandability all come down strongly in favor of open source
solutions to complex problems of any sort.
--Robert G. Brown
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