I have been mostly programming in Perl for the last three years. Thanks to CPAN and the acquired experience I can get quite a bit done in a short amount of time. Now I am thinking about working in Python and C++ again and the lack of a CPAN equivalent is distressing.

So, I have started to think about a tool for those that want to create services like CPAN. The basic features are

• HTTP accessible archive of modules for both human and machine.

• Modules have type, version, and dependencies. Perhaps a general set of named attributes.

• Contributions can be upgraded directly by contributor and maintainer.

• Contributions can be downgraded directly by contributor and maintainer.

• Sites can be mirrored easily.

• Module installation registry on local host.

• Simple command line tool for incorporating new modules into an installation.

• Simple command line tool for incorporating upgraded and downgraded modules into an installation.

As a general tool perhaps the most you could is to coordinate the archive's content with a local and limited copy of it, and then coordinate the incorporation of the local modules into some default base installation. (SWIG has done a great job over the years at unifying the creation of C and C++ extensions for scripting languages. I am sure there is much experience and advice here we need to keep in mind.)

Anyway, it would be nice to have something to offer the Python, C++, Ruby, JavaScript, etc communities.

Before going further I really should see what CPAN has.