Proprietary Sybase DBI/DBD module

[Dave Cross]

Quoting Chris Jack <chris_jack at msn.com>:

> I'm just back from speaking at the Las Vegas SAP/Sybase conference  
> (on a somewhat Perl related topic too!). One of the (other)  
> interesting talks was about a new proprietary Sybase ASE DBI/DBD  
> module for Perl (to be called DBD::SybaseASE from memory). They were  
> a little short on specifics, but it sounds like it will answer a  
> number of concerns with the current non-proprietary DBD::Sybase -  
> for instance with performance of bulk loading. I asked what was  
> being done about getting it into standard perl distributions, and  
> the presenter didn't know. Hence my question: can anyone send  
> me/post information or a link about how to get a new module into  
> standard Perl distributions (and maybe also a list of the major perl  
> distributions).

Well, there's only one standard Perl distribution[1]. And that doesn't  
include any DBD modules. It doesn't even include DBI.

There are a number of distributions that include modules beyond the  
standard set. Offhand I can think of ActivePerl[2], Strawberry Perl[3]  
and DWIM Perl[4]. Some of these include DBI and DBD modules but (as  
far as I know) they only include DBD::mysql - as it's still by far the  
most popular database. None of them include DBD::Sybase, so the chance  
of getting them to include an alternative Sybase DBD would seem to be  
tiny.

There are, however, a couple of alternatives that you can consider.  
Firstly, for a module to be considered "real" to most Perl  
programmers, it needs to be on CPAN. The PAUSE FAQ[5] is still (as far  
as I know) the best guide for getting a module onto CPAN.

Secondly, you could consider making pre-packaged versions of the  
module available for various platforms. For example, an RPM for Red  
Hat systems or a .deb for Debian/Ubuntu. You could try to get it into  
the standard package repositories for these systems but the niche  
nature of Sybase use is likely to count against you here.

Does that help at all? Let us know if you have any further questions.

Cheers,

Dave...

[1] https://metacpan.org/release/perl
[2] http://www.activestate.com/activeperl
[3] http://strawberryperl.com/
[4] http://dwimperl.com/
[5] http://www.cpan.org/modules/04pause.html