Re: Tags for CPAN modules.

Hi Michael

> One of the most common cries I hear from CPAN users is that they have
> trouble
> finding modules.  A CPAN module is largely found by its distribution name.

Right! And surely we can all recall cases of surprise upon encountering
useful modules whose name - at least initially - was unexpected.

> descriptor.  Best practices for tags and how to work their strengths and
> weaknesses are well understood.

So do you have a URL of a (choosing) tags tutorial? I'll bet no 2 people
will agree on which tags suit a set of modules, because the choice depends
on our personalities rather than depending on the code.

> The implementation is simple, add a "tags" keyword to META.yml.  Have
> search.cpan.org so something interesting with that extra information.

OK.

> The particular tags will fluctuate at first (ie. web vs www) but will
> quickly
> settle down, especially if aided by simple tag visualization tools like
> tag
> clouds.

I'd say they will diverge rather than converge. See for example module
names - it's that personal choice thing again. But that shouldn't stop us
making CPAN more useful.

> Unless someone screams "NO, STOP!" I intend to add this functionality to
> MakeMaker.

Do it no matter who screams!

-- 
Ron Savage
[email protected]