Version 2.33 of module Getopt::Long has been released to CPAN. It will
be standard part of Perl 5.8.1 and 5.9.

Module Getopt::Long implements an extended getopt function called
GetOptions(). This function implements the POSIX standard for command
line options, with GNU extensions, while still capable of handling
the traditional one-letter options (including option bundling).
It adds a lot of features like automatic abbreviation of option names,
aliases and callback functions.

The README document is attached to this message.

The easiest way to get it is by using the CPAN shell:

   perl -MCPAN -e 'install("Getopt::Long")'

Alternatively, use a Web browser and point it to the CPAN search engine:
  http://search.cpan.org/search?module=Getopt::Long

Changes in this version
-----------------------

**************** WARNING -- EXPERIMENTAL CODE AHEAD ****************

The following new features are marked experimental. This means that if
you are going to use them you _must_ watch out for the next release of
Getopt::Long to see if the API has changed.

* Getopt::Long can automatically handle --version and --help options
  if the calling program did not specify a handler explicitly.

  Two configuration parameters have been added: 'auto_help' (or
  'help') and 'auto_version' (or 'version'). If set, Getopt::Long will
  itself take care of --help and --version options. Otherwise,
  everything is exactly as it was before.

  The new features will be enabled by default for programs that
  explicitly require version 2.3203 or later.

  Getopt::Long uses module Pod::Usage to produce the help message from
  the SYNOPSIS section of the program's POD.

  Using a --help (or -?) command line option will write the SYNOPSIS
  section of the program's POD to STDOUT, and exit with status 0.
  However, an illegal option will produce the help text to STDERR,
  and exit with status 2. This is in accordance with current
  conventions.

* Two subroutines can be exported on demand:

  - VersionMessage

    This subroutine prints the standard version message.

  - HelpMessage

    This subroutine prints the standard help message.

  Both subroutines take the same arguments as Pod::Usage::pod2usage,
  see its documentation for details.  

  Example:

    use Getopt::Long 2.33 qw(GetOptions HelpMessage);
    GetOptions(...) or HelpMessage(2);

**************** END EXPERIMENTAL CODE ****************

* Subroutine Configure can now be exported on demand.

* Negatable options (with "!") now also support the "no-" prefix.
  On request of Ed Avis.

* Some fixes with hashes and bundling.
  Thanks to Anders Johnson and Andrei Gnepp.
  Mandatory/optional status for hash values is now effective.
  String valued options with no value now default to the empty string
  instead of 1 (one).
  NOTE: The hash options still remain more or less experimental.

* Fix a pass_through bug where the options terminator (normally "--")
  was not passed through in @ARGV.
  Thanks to Philippe Verdret.

* Add FAQ: I "use GetOpt::Long;" (Windows) and now it doesn't work.

Previous released version was 2.32.

---- README ----

