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

    *   Every bundled and dual-life modules upgraded to the latest version.

    *   Bundle::CPAN, Bundle::LWP and CPAN::SQLite to enhance the
        functionality of the CPAN client.

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

    *   Modules that enhance the ability to install non-CPAN packages such
        as PAR::Dist, PPM and pip.

    *   Prebuilt and known-good C libraries for math, crypto and XML
        support.

    *   BETA - Additions that provide Portable support.

    The Perl::Dist::Strawberry module available on CPAN contains the modules
    and perldist_strawberry script that are used to generate the Strawberry
    Perl installers.

    Please note that Perl::Dist::Strawberry 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::Inno for details on how the underlying distribution
    construction toolkit works.

CHANGES FROM CORE PERL
    Strawberry Perl is and will continue to be based on the latest "stable"
    releases of Perl, currently 5.8.8 and 5.10.0.

    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 or updated 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.

    Additionally, a stub CPAN Config.pm file is added. This provides a
    complete zero-conf preconfiguration for CPAN, using a stable
    <http://cpan.strawberryperl.com/> redirector to bounce to a
    known-reliable mirrors.

    A more-thorough network-aware zero-conf capability is currently being
    developed and will be included at a later time.

    Strawberry has never patched the Perl source code or modified the
    perl.exe binary.

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 add
    the environment entries 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.

  default_machine
      Perl::Dist::Strawberry->default_machine->run;

    The "default_machine" class method is used to setup the most common
    machine for building Strawberry Perl.

    The machine provided creates a standard 5.8.8 distribution (.zip and
    .exe), a standard 5.10.0 distribution (.zip and .exe) and a
    Portable-enabled 5.10.0 distribution (.zip only).

    Returns a Perl::Dist::Machine object.

  install_patch
      $dist->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.

  install_ppm
      $dist->install_ppm;

    Installs the PPM module, and then customises the temp path to live
    underneath the strawberry dist.

  install_win32_manifest
      $dist->install_win32_manifest( 'WX Perl' => 'perl', 'bin', 'wxperl.exe' );

    Installs a manifest file to make an executable binary look like a "real"
    Win32 program.

SUPPORT
    Bugs should be reported via the CPAN bug tracker at

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

    Please note that only bugs in the distribution itself or the CPAN
    configuration should be reported to RT. Bugs in individual modules
    should be reported to their respective distributions.

    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 - 2009 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.