Should I edit modules from forge.puppetllabs.com directly?

Question

When you install a module from forge.puppetlabs.com, the module is installed in /etc/puppetlabs/puppet/modules. Let's say I have installed the puppetlabs ntp module but need to customize it. Do I edit the module's files in /etc/puppetlabs/puppet/modules/ntp or should I copy the ntp directory into another directory (a dir in the modulepath of course) and hack it up there?

Thanks.

Answer 1

This question bears similarity to this other one (no duplicate though, I feel).

What you really want to do is "fork" (in github speak) the module and use your own version right in place of the upstream one. Ideally, your changes are in general fashion and configurable, so that other users can benefit from them if you open a pull request to get your enhancements upstream.