As far as I can tell, the key difference between previous ones (eg: Sex, DNA, Bleach, Buffy) and mine was that XML::Simpler did not contain obfuscated Perl code.

That's not the point. "Sex" is obviously not serious, DNA is useable, and the synopsis makes clear it's just for fun. Both Bleach and Buffy are in the Acme:: namespace, home of useless, but fun modules.

XML::Simpler is in the XML:: namespace, and will be found when anyone searches for XML or XML::Simple. A lot of people want ease of use, and will install XML::Simpler before trying XML::Simple. They'll find out it's useless and might give up on trying other modules, because even the simplest doesn't work.

Had you named it Acme::XML::Simpler, there would be no problem.

As modules can't be deleted easily, I urge you to add a very verbose and clear statement at the top of your POD, add a warning to the code itself, and release version 1.01. Then, request it to be deleted, and if you like, re-submit it under the Acme:: namespace.

I would argue that mine is no more or less useful than the other packages. It does work exactly as the documentation describes.

Have you seen my latest module?

package Null;
use v5.6.0
use strict;
our $VERSION = '1.00';

__END__

=head1 NAME

Null - Does absolutely nothing

=head1 SYNOPSIS

    use Null;

=head1 DESCRIPTION

This module only sets $Null::VERSION, but does nothing else.

=head1 COPYRIGHT

None is claimed. This module is released into the public domain.

=cut
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