Wikipedia has all sorts of interesting stuff in it... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dependency_hell
Once reason that we like the use of CPAN so much is that it minimizes the risk of landing in dependency hell. CPAN modules that are properly done indicate what dependencies they have, and if your system does not include that software, it can be downloaded for you and installed (if you are using the cpan command to install a module, which is usually a good idea). Now, the situation gets more complex when you have a mixture of Perl, C, and perhaps a few binaries, but there are ways to automatically manage such situations (some of which are mentioned in the Wikapedia entry.) But, it seems like the authors of Dependency_hell have a bias against the traditional GNU approach to managing dependencies, which is a configure script generated by autoconf. I still like that approach, and in fact you can find another Wikipedia entry about that (they do not seem to cross index however, which is a shame): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autoconf Also, here are a few links I like about autoconf: http://www.gnu.org/software/autoconf/ http://developers.sun.com/solaris/articles/gnu.html http://sources.redhat.com/autobook/ So, our best example of such a mixed system is SenseClusters, which has a combination of Perl and various C binaries, and we have tried out best to keep the installation procedure as simple and well documented as possible. We encounter similar issues now in GateWSD, which is a mixture of Perl and Java. So, we'll keep thinking about how to manage such situations. The above articles are nice starting points and give a good summary of some of the problems and solutions. BTW, if you have any ideas about how to manage such situations, of course they are welcome. Enjoy, Ted -- Ted Pedersen http://www.d.umn.edu/~tpederse ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Give at-risk students the materials they need to succeed at DonorsChoose.org! http://us.click.yahoo.com/iEagnA/LpQLAA/HwKMAA/x3XolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nlpatumd/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
