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Date: Fri, 27 Mar 2026 13:58:52 -0400
Message-ID: <CAGB_HuQfkaTbHYeQv_C5LM9Bz7JY2GgYcODFDNsNLRPWTC3BOg@mail.gmail.com>
Subject: Re: cygchk-perl-mods.pl (Was: An offering to the Perl enthusiasts .
To: Dr Bean <drbean AT freeshell DOT org>, Soren via Cygwin <cygwin AT cygwin DOT com>
From: Soren via Cygwin <cygwin AT cygwin DOT com>
Reply-To: Soren <somian08 AT gmail DOT com>
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Hello Dr. Bean, all,
On Thu, Mar 26, 2026 at 3:17 AM Dr Bean via Cygwin <cygwin AT cygwin DOT com>
wrote:

> On Tue, 24 Mar 2026, Soren via Cygwin wrote:
>
> > I've written a program in Perl that satisfies a desire I've had for a
> > while. I wanted to have a way  to check out what Perl module
> distributions
> > have been made into cygwin packages installable with Setup, but outside
> of
> > Setup. The main feature of how the program works is the specification of
> > "namespace globs" like "IO-*" or "Module-*" used as the argument to my
> > script. This allows for surveying a manageable grouping of packages from
> > the Cygwin server, in the TMI (terminal, text mode interface,
> commandline).
> > I think it's best if I just show some representative output rather than
> > struggling to explain what I mean: [...]
>
> I tried running this over a few outer package names in
> my system perl and perl environment manager perlbrew
> installations to see what was different in both.
>

Thanks for testing it. I appreciate the interest. You'll not be using the
tool as it is intended if you run it on another perl than the system perl
(/usr/bin/perl), such as your perlbrew installations. This is because the
data is being summoned forth via a query to 'cygcheck', and cygcheck only
knows about cygwin-packaged perl modules installed by Setup-x86_64.exe in
the vendor_perl tree.


> I can see this also being of use in attempts to
> stick to tested cygwin perl packages and avoid taking
> chances with the 'latest and greatest' from CPAN.
>

Exactly. Cygwin package maintainers have done the work of ascertaining the
compatibility of a given release of a module and the output of my program
shows whether perl is going to be using such a verndor-supplied module or
instead something living in the site_perl trees. Aside from the convenience
of using Setup-86_64 to install Perl packages, the (guaranteed?)  vetted
status of the vendor package is a good reason to get a distribution
from the Cygwin collection.

The script doesn't show shadowed (hidden) modules (from
> cygwin packages) in vendor_perl (?) if there is one
> downloaded from CPAN in /usr/local/share/...?
>

That's right. The script only shows the one perl would use, and modules
installed in these directories always get found first:

Here's some more useful representative output than posted in my original
message:
$ perl  ~/Scripts-working/cygchk-perl-mods.pl 'Crypt-*'

perl-Crypt-OpenSSL-Bignum  Crypt::OpenSSL::Bignum is installed as
/usr/lib/perl5/vendor_perl/5.40/x86_64-cygwin-threads/Crypt/OpenSSL/Bignum.pm
perl-Crypt-OpenSSL-DSA     Crypt::OpenSSL::DSA is installed as
/usr/lib/perl5/vendor_perl/5.40/x86_64-cygwin-threads/Crypt/OpenSSL/DSA.pm
perl-Crypt-OpenSSL-EC      Crypt::OpenSSL::EC is not installed
perl-Crypt-OpenSSL-ECDSA   Crypt::OpenSSL::ECDSA is not installed
perl-Crypt-OpenSSL-Guess   Crypt::OpenSSL::Guess is not installed
perl-Crypt-OpenSSL-Random  Crypt::OpenSSL::Random is not installed
perl-Crypt-OpenSSL-RSA     Crypt::OpenSSL::RSA is not installed
perl-Crypt-URandom         Crypt::URandom is installed as
/usr/local/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.40/x86_64-cygwin-threads/Crypt/URandom.pm


CPAN modules may also be stored in
> /usr/share/perl5/.../site-perl?
>

These two dirs are always searched first:
/usr/local/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.40/x86_64-cygwin-threads
/usr/local/share/perl5/site_perl/5.40


> I can see my Module::Build appears to have been installed
> from CPAN, but Module::Build::Tiny appears to have come
> from a cygwin package. That doesn't seem ideal. But is
> it no problem?
>

Probably not a problem.

I can imagine the reason for source differences is a
> CPAN module I downloaded wanted a more recent version
> than the cygwin package provided.
>
> But I am grateful that using perl in cygwin is
> well-ordered compared with the unavoidability of
> virtual environments in python, rendering system python
> irrelevant.
>

;-)

A compare-and-contrast tool like this for python
> virtual environments I could see being of use.
>
> I will keep this around for use figuring out perl
> dependency problems when not using perlbrew.
>
> It is not in a github or other foundry repo?


I wanted to test the interest in the program before creating a github
repository for it. Your reply constitutes "interest" and I'll make a
githib repo for it by the end of this weekend.

> --
> Greg "Dr Bean" Matheson         If there is one thing we learn from
> http://drbean.sdf.org           studying learners, it is that
> drbean AT freeshell DOT org            they learn more than we learn.
>
> --
Soren 'tino
If this message doesn't comply with protocols, policies, or customs of this
mailing list, please inform me, and I will endeavor to do better in the
future.

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