Alien::Base is a base class and framework for creating Alien distributions. The goal of the project is to make things as simple and easy as possible for both developers and users of Alien modules. Alien is a Perl namespace for defining dependencies in CPAN for libraries and tools which are not "native" to CPAN. Alien modules will typically use the system libraries if they are available, or download the latest version from the internet and build them from source code. These libraries can then be used by other Perl modules, usually modules that are implemented with XS or FFI. To install Alien::Base, use cpanminus: cpanm Alien::Base Once installed you can read the project documentation using the perldoc command, or via the metacpan.org website. If you are an Alien developer, see the authoring documentation: perldoc Alien::Base::Authoring http://metacpan.org/pod/Alien::Base::Authoring The FAQ also contains hints on dealing with specific challenges, like dealing with specific tools: perldoc Alien::Base::FAQ http://metacpan.org/pod/Alien::Base::FAQ If you are a user of an Alien module, you will likely be more interested in the Alien::Base interface itself: perldoc Alien::Base http://metacpan.org/pod/Alien::Base For questions that aren't answered in the documentation, please feel free to contact the Alien::Base team: * IRC: #native on irc.perl.org * mailing list at https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/perl5-alien * GitHub issue tracker at https://github.com/Perl5-Alien/Alien-Base/issues