> when distros on CPAN get tested without one. (Which could happen for normal > users unknowingly via dependencies, which is one of the reasons that Perl > without a compiler makes CPAN nearly unusable and one of the reasons that > drove the creationof Strawberry Perl.)
I don't think this renders Perl totally useless. There are at least alot of modules which doesn't require a compiler just a plain "make"/nbmake. Even with the introduction of Module::Build it obsoletes the need for a compiler for pure modules. Maybe XS modules should be more careful in the build phase, so I think it's perfectly fine with me that such modules enters the state of "UNKNOWN". Uli
