Do you have some time for open source (and Perl)?
Then #AdoptAPerlModule! 😀
Maintaining module is a rewarding position where you can learn more about toolchains concepts and play a role in the Perl ecosystem.
Of course depending how much people depends on your module, it will require more work, reactivity and consistency. But a lot of "orphan" modules fall not in this category.
Friendly CPAN module is looking for love and care
I listed below some links where you can find modules that need help or are looking for a new maintainer ("Adoptable").
As a starting point, see first the adoption's list from Neil Bowers who integrates metrics like number of issues to extract "possible candidates".
Then there is the ADOPTME author on MetaCPAN.
Unfortunately the HANDOFF and NEEDHELP search from MetaCPAN are not working well (and actually even the ADOPTME I mentioned you just above is incomplete). Maybe I have to propose a code change to MetaCPAN 😀
EDIT: As shared in comments by @grinnz (thank you!!) we have correct lists in MetaCPAN using the permissions views: ADOPTME, HANDOFF and NEEDHELP 😀
You also go on RT:
Or on CPANMeta:
And finally, there is also a GitHub organization that gathers orphan modules
(If you know more links, please share in comments)
River position
Take care of the "river" position, don't adopt modules with several dependent packages.
Top comments (3)
The author pages for ADOPTME/HANDOFF/NEEDHELP are not useful because those list releases by those users (which are not real users so don't do releases), not permissions. Instead see for example ADOPTME permissions which will be similar to what cpanmeta shows.
I updated the post with these links 👍
If you haven't explained "River Position" in a prior post, that might be a good topic for your next one.