PPM - It's a GUI!!

I recently installed ActivePerl 5.8.8 Build 819 on a desktop. After reading the release notes, I was anxious to explore the new version of the Perl Package Manager. At first the GUI was a little confusing becuase it's not clear what is being listed. However, after playing with it, I think it's great.

Listing and installing packages are much easier tasks to complete. Adding repositories are just as easy as typing in the url and giving it a name. I can see all packages installed or all packages available for install. With the click of a button I can upgrade and verify packages.

All is not lost for those who like the command line shell. Doing a ppm repo will list all your repositories in a nice borded table. Other commands are available also just do a ppm help at the command line.

I like the new version of PPM. What do you monks thinks about it?

Comment on PPM - It's a GUI!!

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Re: PPM - It's a GUI!! by xdg (Monsignor) on Oct 12, 2006 at 19:20 UTC
What do you monks thinks about it? I think it's not open source. -xdg Code written by xdg and posted on PerlMonks is public domain. It is provided as is with no warranties, express or implied, of any kind. Posted code may not have been tested. Use of posted code is at your own risk.	[reply]
Re^2: PPM - It's a GUI!! by mikasue (Friar) on Oct 12, 2006 at 19:26 UTC
What does that mean?	[reply]
Re^3: PPM - It's a GUI!! by xdg (Monsignor) on Oct 12, 2006 at 19:34 UTC
It's not licensed like the rest of Perl and most of CPAN. See ActivePerl Community License v2.1. -xdg Code written by xdg and posted on PerlMonks is public domain. It is provided as is with no warranties, express or implied, of any kind. Posted code may not have been tested. Use of posted code is at your own risk.	[reply]
Re^4: PPM - It's a GUI!! by mikasue (Friar) on Oct 12, 2006 at 21:24 UTC
Re: PPM - It's a GUI!! by shenme (Priest) on Oct 12, 2006 at 17:22 UTC
Watch out for the bugs when you have more than one repository. PPM will not necessarily pick the most recent versioned module to satisfy requirements, but will rather default to just one (the first?) repository for all dependencies. Upgrading one module may reverse direction on several modules it is dependent on. I am surprised at this "more than one" infancy problem. And speaking of dependencies, I do wish it would tell me _which_ other modules it was going to install/upgrade based on my one selected module. The thing that is truly nice is the listing from search. Type in 'FTP' and you get a list of about 25 modules that have FTP in their names or abstracts.	[reply]
Re: PPM - It's a GUI!! by swampyankee (Parson) on Oct 12, 2006 at 22:47 UTC
I think the new version of PPM is hideously slow, even slower than the command line version. I also find it less than intuitive. emc At that time [1909] the chief engineer was almost always the chief test pilot as well. That had the fortunate result of eliminating poor engineering early in aviation. —Igor Sikorsky, reported in AOPA Pilot magazine February 2003.	[reply]
Re^2: PPM - It's a GUI!! by monarch (Priest) on Oct 13, 2006 at 13:38 UTC
I nearly lost it with frustration and anger after discovering ppm had been significantly changed. It is a basic principle of a mature product not to completely change the functionality and interface. When I finally discovered one could run it as a shell (by running a different command name now, `ppm-shell`) my co-worker and I had to sit there for minutes watching every single CPAN module get loaded into some sort of cache. In frustration hit ctrl-C and just copied the binaries from one machine to another. I don't care how much better then "new" ppm is, it makes ActiveState Perl a product that cannot be relied on in a hurry - who knows how else the fundamental utilities might suddenly change anytime in the future!	[reply] [d/l]
Re^3: PPM - It's a GUI!! by buckaduck (Chaplain) on Oct 31, 2006 at 21:03 UTC
Apparently the hideously slow sync when you start PPM is caused by an invalid repository which is set as a default in the ActivePerl distribution, and is not a problem PPM itself. Delete (or disable) your repository and add this one instead: http://ppm4.activestate.com/MSWin32-x86/5.8/819 I did this and now PPM starts up lightning fast for me. buckaduck	[reply]
Re: PPM - It's a GUI!! by vkon (Curate) on Oct 13, 2006 at 10:46 UTC
Here at last! For me, intuitive usage of PPM is good, but even better is the practical usage of Tcl which is similar to, but far more advanced than perl/Tk, by many reasons. Thanks for pointing to the point :) Vadim.	[reply]

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