[SOLVED] Current: perllocal.pod clean up?

d/perl-5.26.1-x86_64-3.txz: Rebuilt.
       Don't install a perllocal.pod with information on the vendor_perl bundled
       modules (that file is for local additions) -- ship the file as
       vendor_perl.pod instead. Thanks to Robby Workman.

I've not used cpan or added any perl modules manually. What's the correct thing to do with the remnant perlocal.pod left behind from previous package installs: remove it?

Originally Posted by GazL d/perl-5.26.1-x86_64-3.txz: Rebuilt. Don't install a perllocal.pod with information on the vendor_perl bundled modules (that file is for local additions) -- ship the file as vendor_perl.pod instead. Thanks to Robby Workman. I've not used cpan or added any perl modules manually. What's the correct thing to do with the remnant perlocal.pod left behind from previous package installs: remove it?

in this case I think zeroing it should be ok, here I have done that

> /usr/lib64/perl5/perllocal.pod

Thanks Matteo, I think I'll just try removing it. If something complains I can always create an empty one later.

POD is Perl's native documentation format, so POD files are just for documentation purposes. When you install a Perl module that makes use of ExtUtils::MakeMaker, the generated makefile appends to perllocal.pod when you run "make install" to create a record of which modules you installed and when; if you use a command-line tool to install modules from CPAN, this has probably happened without you realising it. Removing perllocal.pod has no bearing on the correct operation of any Perl programs or modules.

So basically, if you never do a 'perldoc perllocal' it doesn't matter? Does anything else use the files contents?

Originally Posted by GazL So basically, if you never do a 'perldoc perllocal' it doesn't matter? Does anything else use the files contents?

That's right: if you track which non-core Perl modules you've installed another way (e.g. by building Slackware packages and installing them via pkgtools, which is better for all sorts of reasons), there's really no need for perllocal.pod at all.

Of course, there are some Perl modules that have such huge dependency trees that it's not practical to create Slackware packages for all of them. In that case, local::lib comes in handy: after you've installed that module globally, you can use it to create a "private" PERL5LIB directory and arrange for cpan(1) and friends to install modules in that directory to avoid polluting your system-wide @INC directories. You can then tell Perl programs that need those modules to look for them in that directory. (If you know Python, it's kind of like virtualenv.)

local::lib would actually be a really useful addition to Slackware generally - I'll request it in the sticky thread.

Thank you. Much appreciated.