NAME
    Perl::Dist::Strawberry - Strawberry Perl for win32

DESCRIPTION
    Strawberry Perl is a binary distribution of Perl for the Windows
    operating system. It includes a bundled compiler and pre-installed
    modules that offer the ability to install XS CPAN modules directly from
    CPAN.

    The purpose of the Strawberry Perl series is to provide a practical
    Win32 Perl environment for experienced Perl developers to experiment
    with and test the installation of various CPAN modules under Win32
    conditions, and to provide a useful platform for doing real work.

    Strawberry Perl includes:

    *   Perl 5.8.8 or Perl 5.10.0

    *   Mingw GCC C/C++ compiler

    *   Dmake "make" tool

    *   "Updates for many toolchain modules"

    *   Bundle::CPAN (including Perl modules that eliminate the need for
        external helper programs like "gzip" and "tar")

    *   Bundle::LWP (providing more reliable http CPAN repository support)

    *   Additional Perl modules that enhance the stability of core Perl for
        the Win32 platform

    *   Other modules that improve the toolchain, or enhance the ability to
        install packages.

    The Perl::Dist::Strawberry modules on CPAN contains programs and
    instructions for downloading component sources and assembling them into
    the executable installer for Strawberry Perl. It does not include the
    resulting Strawberry Perl installer.

    See the Strawberry Perl website at <http://strawberryperl.com/> to
    download the Strawberry Perl installer.

    See Perl::Dist::Build at <http://search.cpan.org> for details on the
    builder used to create Strawberry Perl from source.

CHANGES FROM CORE PERL
    Strawberry Perl is and will continue to be based on the latest "stable"
    release of Perl, currently version 5.8.8. Some additional modifications
    are included that improve general compatibility with the Win32 platform
    or improve "turnkey" operation on Win32.

    Whenever possible, these modifications will be made only by
    preinstalling additional CPAN modules within Strawberry Perl,
    particularly modules that have been newly included as core Perl modules
    in the "development" branch of perl to address Win32 compatibility
    issues.

    Modules or distributions currently included are:

    *   ExtUtils::MakeMaker 6.30_01 -- fixes a Win32 perl path bug

    *   CPAN 1.87_57 -- many small fixes for numerous annoyances on Win32

    *   Win32API::File -- to allow for deletion of in-use files at next
        reboot; required for CPAN.pm to be able to upgrade itself

    *   IO -- to address Win32 Socket bugs

    *   Compress::Zlib, IO::Zlib and Archive::Tar -- to eliminate the
        CPAN.pm dependency on external, binary programs to handle .tar.gz
        files

    *   Archive::Zip (and its dependency, Time::Local) -- to eliminate the
        CPAN.pm dependency on external, binary programs to handle .zip files

    *   libnet -- provides Net::FTP to eliminate the CPAN.pm dependency on
        an external, binary ftp program; installed configured for FTP
        passive mode

    Additionally, a stub CPAN Config.pm file is installed. It provides
    defaults to the path for dmake, to automatically follow dependencies and
    to use the Windows temporary directory for the CPAN working directory.

CONFIGURATION
    At present, Strawberry Perl must be installed in C:\strawberry. The
    executable installer adds the following environment variable changes:

        * adds directories to PATH
            - C:\strawberry\perl\bin  
            - C:\strawberry\c\bin  

    Users installing Strawberry Perl without the installer will need to
    change the environment manually.

METHODS
    In addition to extending various underlying Perl::Dist::Inno methods,
    Strawberry Perl adds some additional methods that provide installation
    support for miscellaneous tools that have not yet been promoted to the
    core.

  install_patch
    The "install_path" method can be used to install a copy of the Unix
    patch program into the distribution.

    Returns true or throws an exception on error.

SUPPORT
    Bugs should be reported via the CPAN bug tracker at

    <http://rt.cpan.org/NoAuth/ReportBug.html?Queue=Perl-Dist-Strawberry>

    For more support information and places for discussion, see the
    Strawberry Perl Support page <http://strawberryperl.com/support.html>.

AUTHOR
    Adam Kennedy <adamk@cpan.org>

COPYRIGHT
    Copyright 2007 - 2008 Adam Kennedy.

    This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
    under the same terms as Perl itself.

    The full text of the license can be found in the LICENSE file included
    with this module.