MIME::Lite 3.0 / MIME::Lite::Maintained

[demerphq]

I just uploaded MIME::Lite v3.0. Anybody that uses MIME::Lite with MIME::Types might appreciate this as it actually works now.

The reason I post this however is that it represents to a certain degree a hostile takeover or squatting or something. Its not my code, but I need it maintained. The author doesn't answer emails and even though his website http://www.zeegee.com is online he hasn't touched his CPAN stuff in almost two years. So after repeated attempts at contacting him, including a mail stating my intentions to take over maintenance I finally did it and uploaded the new version.

I also registered the namespace MIME::Lite::Maintained with an explanation of the events and uploaded it under that too. I clearly stated my reasons in the new documentation and I made it plain that if Eryq wanted to I would hand back to him without a word.

The question is did I do the right thing?

Even though the code is open-source (released under the Artistic license) I somehow feel like I've just broken into someones apartment. Not to steal the sterio mind you, but rather to fix a leaky pipe. :-)

But still, I wonder, and I hope I've done the right thing.

What guidance does the monastery have for my troubled conscience?

---
demerphq

_{<Elian> And I do take a kind of perverse pleasure in having an OO assembly language...}

[PodMaster]

I don't know if you did, but whenever this is the case (module needs maintenance but author is unreachable), you should CC any attempts to contact the author to [e-mail].

I'm about to take over XML::TokeParser. My first attempts went un-cc-ed to [e-mail] and ultimately didn't reach the author. After my final contact attempt ( I'm taking over XML::TokeParser, mmkay ;) ), I was contacted by Aujitrus Tang and he inquired
"Can you give an account of how many times you tried reaching its author about this matter, and the date of those attempts?".

Sadly I couldn't cite those date attempts. So, to be on the safe side, whenever you're planning a hostile takeover, be sure to attempt contact and CC [e-mail] a few times before actually doing it (give it a month or two, better yet, three, in case the guy is moving cross country or something).

On a sidenode, the author of XML::TokeParser has given me his blessing.

MJD says you can't just make shit up and expect the computer to know what you mean, retardo! I run a Win32 PPM repository for perl 5.6x+5.8x. I take requests. ** The Third rule of perl club is a statement of fact: pod is sexy.

[demerphq]

I think I could account for a few emails covering about 4-6 months.

I have to admit that I would have appreciated a note about CC'ing [e-mail] in the PAUSE/CPAN documentation. (As in not in the FAQs but in the main documentation)


---
demerphq

_{<Elian> And I do take a kind of perverse pleasure in having an OO assembly language...}

[davorg]

There are procedures in place for dealing with problems like this. You should contact [e-mail] explaining what is going on.

--
<http://www.dave.org.uk>

"The first rule of Perl club is you do not talk about Perl club."
-- Chip Salzenberg

[PodMaster]

There are procedures in place for dealing with problems like this.

I believe there are, but are they documented anywhere? (if it's not documented, how can authors know)

BTW, i'd like to point out that PAUSE has a permission scheme when it comes to modules. PAUSE authors should check out View Permissions and Change Permissions. I'm not sure if demerphqs new upload will show up as the new version of MIME::Lite, given that the original author has not changed permissions (you can get demerphqs uploads here, but will they show up here).

MJD says you can't just make shit up and expect the computer to know what you mean, retardo! I run a Win32 PPM repository for perl 5.6x+5.8x. I take requests. ** The Third rule of perl club is a statement of fact: pod is sexy.

[davorg]

Well there's some stuff in the CPAN FAQ.

How do I go about maintaining a module when the author is unresponsive?

But, to be honest, that doesn't quite say what I thought it would :)

--
<http://www.dave.org.uk>

"The first rule of Perl club is you do not talk about Perl club."
-- Chip Salzenberg

[demerphq]

No they wont show up. The indexer has rejected them as not being owned by me.

I suppose all I can do is wait for either Eryq to send me a mail, or the modules people to say something.


---
demerphq

_{<Elian> And I do take a kind of perverse pleasure in having an OO assembly language...}

[belg4mit]

Sure there are, but they don't seem to work. I've repeatedly asked to have access to Net::Interface since I "maintain" a working version, but never received a reply.

--
I'm not belgian but I play one on TV.

[demerphq]

Personally I think that the community doesnt want to deal with this issue, as to deal with it properly a level of buerocracy needs to be implemented. And I think that the community tries to avoid buerocracy which is cool when things are small. But I think long term the undoing of CPAN will be this and related issues if it isnt confronted soon eventually.


---
demerphq

<Elian> And I do take a kind of perverse pleasure in having an OO assembly language...

---

• Update:  
No im not predicitng the dath of CPAN, just that people trust of it is a function of how much they can rely on it. As more and more crud accumulates, and modules are left unsupported and unmaintained, the likelyhood of getting crap code gets higher and higher. Eventually there will be so much junk that no one will bother trying to figure out what to use, and just go elsewhere. But I think eventually is a long time. But id rather it didnt happen at all.

[demerphq]

I'd just like to report that I received the following email from Eryq:

Yes, my life has become very busy lately, and it's probably in the best interests of the community at large that someone with more time on their hands take over some of the code.

I'll cede MIME::Lite to you if you want it. :-)

Eryq

So my conscience is guilt free!


---
demerphq

_{<Elian> And I do take a kind of perverse pleasure in having an OO assembly language...}

[autarch]

So what are the changes in this version? There's no separate Changes file and the module docs just say that you took it over from eryq, but not what you changed along the way. Presumably, you took it over to fix some bugs, so it's probably important to say what they were!

[demerphq]

Umm, yes, thanks, mumble. There is a seperate changes file that I updated:changes.pod however I realize now that I made a typo when i did, so its a bit confusing (It should say MIME::Types, not MIME::Lite, sigh.) And I could have explained in further detail what I did. Until I get home and make the change, here is what it should say

• Changed version string, both because the original encoding cause it to be incorrectly parsed by Perl, preventing valid version checks, and also to demarcate the different maintainer.
• Changed code that interacts with MIME::Types so a fatal error isnt thrown when using AUTO when that module is installed. Now also will only use 1.004 or later of that module. When I have time to determine if it works with earlier versions of MIME::Types I will do so.
• Added a test to check that the MIME::Types functionality works.
• Slimmed down the distribution size by removing redundant copys of the documentation including the entire ./doc directory. Added instructions how to obtain this information in a readable form, either from the web or from the command line.
• Moved CHANGES to a ./changes.pod
• Modified README to contain a small summary of useful information about the module, and not just a text version of the main POD.
• Added section to the documentation about how to develop patches (the test framework that MIME::Lite uses is non-standard)
• Added section to the document to provide a single point to view the "helper" modules that MIME::Lite is designed to work with.
• Added a comment that those with questions may find http://www.perlmonks.org a good place for advice, but only if they post the code they dont understand. ;-)

I think that about covers it. Ill update the README tonight.


---
demerphq

_{<Elian> And I do take a kind of perverse pleasure in having an OO assembly language...}