On Fri, 26 Jul 2002 13:19:51 -0700, Johan Vromans wrote: > One of the problems I have with using Test::Builder is that I want to > distribute packages to systems that do not (necessarily) have a decent version > of Test::* installed. Now it is easy to include a copy of a suitable version > of Test::Builder with the package (provided it is not too big). Would it be a > good idea to add a provision to Test::Builder that can be called, from the > Makefile.PL, to display a message like this: > > The verificiation tests for this package require the Test::Builder package > of at least version X.Y. You do not seem to have this installed. I have > included a copy of Test::Builder in this distribution that I can use for > testing. Do you want me to install this version of Test::Builder as well? > > This would help spreading the good stuff.
This idea appeals to me, but I have thought of two drawbacks. The first is minor, and it's that I don't think Test::Builder should have special logic for installation. It seems that this would be better in CPANPLUS. It could then be something more modules would be able to use. The second drawback is that the bundled version may be out of date. This is also mostly minor, as the prompt will only happen if the currently installed version is older (or not installed). There's a minor possibility of distributing buggy code and not updating the bundled file appropriately -- dependencies help with that. Maybe a better option yet is to mark something as a testing dependency, which can be installed if the user wants, but fall back to the bundled version otherwise. It's an interesting issue, and I'm glad you brought it up. -- c
