We lack an overview document for packagers

[Leont]

We are currently lacking a top-down overview for packagers on how to interact with cpan distributions (and perl itself). This would need to cover at least

• META files (1.4 versus 2.0 spec, META vs MYMETA, extensions)
• Build phases (configure / build / test / install)
• Makefile.PL / Build.PL protocols (e.g. destdir)
• Relevant perl configuration arguments (e.g. install dirs)
• Environmental variables for building and testing

And probably other stuff that I'm currently forgetting (please do add suggestions).

[karenetheridge]

• guidelines for how to handle supplementary data (e.g. packaged in the share/ directory), especially those coming from other sources which may need special licencing

[Leont]

Also, we should explain how versions work in Perl, and some guidance on how to map them to versions in other systems.