[Bioperl-l] Query re naming / distribution of bio-related module [bio-newbie - be gentle!]

[Simon Whitaker]

Hi there,

I have a question for the assembled brains. I should forewarn you that,
although I'm a seasoned Perl programmer, I'm rather green when it comes
to bioperl, so please don't slap me too hard if I annoy you. :-)

I've been asked to write some software for a local lab, to facilitate
the study of how microsatellite locus mutation rates evolve from a
population-level perspective. They've asked me to write some Perl that
will read in data files (repeat length data for a number of strains of
the organism being studied, plus estimated mutation rates for that
species) and manipulate it in various ways, e.g. calculating mutation
phenotypes for all strains in a repeat length data file, calculating
mean repeat lengths, etc.

At the moment they want the software to run on a command line, but it's
possible that a CGI or GUI version may be required at some point. So, it
made sense to me to hive off the data-munging stuff into a Perl module
and write the front end, whatever it may be, separately.

I imagine it's possible that other people may be able to make use out of
this module for their own purposes (I'm not a bioinformatician, or even
a biologist - so you tell me!) and so I thought about uploading it to
CPAN when it's ready. Then I wondered if it ought to be submitted to
bioperl instead (or as well)?

The lab decided on the name MutPhenotyper (short for mutational
phenotype typer) for this project, so while I'm working on this in
isolation I've named the module Bio::MutPhenotyper. However, I'm acutely
anxious not to crash in and spoil someone's delicately categorised
namespace, so I'd really like your opinions on this. In essence what I'd
like to know is:

1) Is this module likely to be of use to others? Is it worth making
it publicly available?

2) Is Bio::MutPhenotyper a reasonable name? I suspect it may not be. If
not, any suggestions?

3) Has someone else already written it? :-)



-- 
Simon Whitaker
http://netcetera.org/