Hi Lesley,
If I use CPAN what is the best method to use? Should I use the cpan command or should I use the perl -MCPAN method? And how much of a problem is not having perl 5.10 installed going to be if I choose to get the latest modules from CPAN? Is it possible to install 5.10 on etch or are there dependencies that might have wider effects than simply updating perl e.g. altering the libraries that gcc relies on?
I'm glad you posted this question, since I have wondered some of the same things. I have a multi-OS system and have typically done my Perl-ing on my Slackware install, and use CPAN all the time there.
I have run into conflicts a couple of times on Debian because I have either installed modules via CPAN that were in the repository or were otherwise mixed up in a dependency somehow. So it is an area to be aware/careful in.
This document may help: http://www.debian.org/doc/packaging-manuals/perl-policy/index.html There is also apparently a Debian CPAN of sorts: http://debian.pkgs.cpan.org/ I found both of these via http://www.debian-administration.org which has proved to be a helpful site. Glenn +-----------------------------------------------------+ Glenn Becker - burningc@sdf.lonestar.org SDF Public Access UNIX System - http://sdf.lonestar.org +-----------------------------------------------------+