I hope this isn't considered noise on this mailing list, but here goes: I posted the following article to comp.lang.perl.modules, and have as yet received no comments. The module I mention is my main concern. Is there any interest in it? I'm also wondering what others think of the Linux:: namespace and whether it has a legitimate use. Suggestions for better namespace placement for my module are welcome. Jamie Tillman [EMAIL PROTECTED] ----- Hi. I have 2 related questions. First, I've recently been browsing CPAN and noticed that although the Win32 namespace is crawling with activity, there don't appear to be any Linux:: modules. I realize that Linux, being mostly Unix, is more closely tied to perl than Win32 and doesn't need that much "help", but I do believe there are some Linux-specific capabilities that would benefit from being modularized in perl. Has anyone else given this thought? What's your take on it? Also, for those more experienced in Linux C development than I: I've recently been studying Linux C programming, and as a learning excercise, I created a perl module called Linux::MsgQueue that provides perl access to the Linux kernel level Message Queue service. I've never done any IPC in Unix, and I'm wondering whether other unixes might provide something similar. Do they, or is it Linux only? Would anyone be interested in seeing such an animal on CPAN? Should it be in a Linux namespace if it is indeed a Linux specific service? It's all the same to me, since it was only for learning, but I want to make my work useful to others if possible. Just for the curious, here's how the module works: The linux message queue provides methods to create a "queue" which is basically a FIFO stack for C structs. You create the structs as you desire, drop them in the queue, and another process (or multiple competing processes) can receive the messages in the same order. An example in the book I was using was one of a paging service with a client and server piece. My PerlXS module provides some predefined C structs to the perl script that give it character arrays of varying length, perfect for stuffing Data::Dumper output into, but you can also create your own C structs and provide them to your perl script through PerlXS. Then you have the functions to create, write to, read from, and destroy a queue. Basically, the same functions provided to a C program using the queue. I realize the module would have limited applicability even in the Linux realm, but it seems that it would have certain uses, esp. when the two communication processes may not be running at the same time. Putting a network front-end on it might create an interesting optimized network IPC server. So, any interest? Comments? Thanks, Jamie
