Chapter 5

From: sam@tregar.com

Subject: [RFC] Data::Counter

Hello all   I ve written a new module called Data::Counter that I m planning to

put on CPAN.  Take a look at the documentation and tell me what you think.

NAME

    Data::Counter   a module that counts your data

DESCRIPTION

    ...

An easy way to produce the content for the message is to use the pod2text script 

that comes with Perl to create a plaintext copy of your module's POD documentation.

CAUTION The perl5 porters mailing list is not a good place to send 

your RFC. The perl5 porters are responsible for developing Perl itself 

and are not very patient with people who mistake their mailing list for a 

general Perl discussion area.

If your RFC receives any replies, then it's likely that some of them will be 

negative.

2

 You should treat criticism seriously, but don't let it prevent you from 

releasing your module there are plenty of successful CPAN modules that began 

their lives with controversy! On the other hand, if you receive no replies, you 

should take that as a sign that you haven't found your user community yet. Keep 

looking your module will only be a success if people use it, and they'll need to 

hear about it first!

One of the most sensitive issues for a new CPAN module is the module's name. 

Since all CPAN modules share a global namespace, everyone has a stake in making 

sure modules are named appropriately. If you're not certain that you have the right 

name for your module, then you should include a section in your RFC discussing 

possible alternatives. Avoid the most common mistakes in module naming 

creating new top level namespaces needlessly (such as Profile::DBI instead of 

DBIx::Profile), cute or funny names (for example, D'oh), or ego based names (for 

example, Sam::Template).

2. Particularly true on Usenet!

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