Running your own mini-cpan or other repos

[David Cantrell]

On Thu, Sep 02, 2010 at 02:00:19PM +0100, Peter Edwards wrote:

> Can't you build your local::lib tree and then use cpan autobundle to
> generate a file with a complete set of versions and install from that later
> if you need to reproduce your bundle?

That doesn't help if you have a dependency on a specific version of a
module but want to add a dependency on another related module.

Let's assume that you have a large complex application which depends on
Elk version 1.009 and ListOfDogs version 5.1, and will break with any
later version of Elk (or of ListOfDogs).  You get a feature request from
a user, and think "ah-ha, there's a module for that", and so you go to
install Some::Module.  Unfortunately, the latest version of Some::Module
depends on Elk 1.234, so your CPAN client merrily upgrades Elk, breaking
everything.  Doom and Disaster.

If you had a local CPAN "mirror" nailed to the day before Elk 1.010 was
released, and that had an earlier version of Some::Module in it, then
Doom and Disaster would be averted.

-- 
David Cantrell | Bourgeois reactionary pig

Anyone willing to give up a little fun for tolerance deserves neither