I really can't see much reason to stick around use.perl any more. The site is far too ugly and feature-poor. Pudge is not inclined to update it, but that's his right and the issues which matter to me may not matter to others (aside from the string of high-profile Perl programmers who've already given up on use.perl).
So where should I go? I could just use my LiveJournal and tag 'perl' entries. That would likely annoy both my Perl and non-Perl friends. So I think keeping a dedicated technical blog is the way to go. I'll have to fiddle around with importing old use.perl entries to it (and replies, if possible), but if I'm going to keep writing about a modern language, I need a modern Web site.
Suggestions? I really don't want to manage my own server, but I will if it gives me the most bang for my buck.
Hi Ovid (and other readers),
I recently acquired the domain perlblog.org (thank you diakopter++), and I'm very open to installing a shared blogging site there.
I'll be on vacations for about three weeks soon, so it'll take some time. But if you're not in a hurry to leave, that might be an option for you.
(I also noticed that jrockway is planning something similar for angerwhale-ng, maybe we can join forces there...)
Re:Wait two more months...
jhorwitz on 2009-05-19T14:27:56
Another idea -- we could make planet.perlblog.org an aggregator for use.perl alumni blogs, among other things. Keeping track of everyone leaving is getting pretty tedious.Re:Wait two more months...
Ovid on 2009-05-19T15:35:43
OK, I'll wait for a bit. It would be nice to see a cleaner alternative than everyone fleeing to the hills.
Given jhorwitz suggestion, perhaps it would be good to allow blogging directly on perlblog.org and have a planet which can blend external blogs into the system?
:)
I've been very happy with blogspot. They let you import (and export) posts and comments. You can pretend that the blog is hosted on your domain using a CNAME record (so that when blogger inevitably turns evil, my links to blog.sartak.org can be resuscitated).
They have all sorts of good little features. Most importantly: tags. I want to link to all of your role posts, but there's no easy way to do that without a tagging system.
Re:blogspot?
nothingmuch on 2009-05-20T07:26:02
I'll second this suggestion. Quite happy so far
...that so many of the prominent Perl sites (at least as far as Google is concerned) are so woefully obsolete/ugly/lacking in updates. It's no wonder we have a reputation problem.
Re:It's a shame...
Ovid on 2009-05-19T15:46:21
Yes, it is a shame. However, we have to face the fact that many people who run these sites have their own opinion of what constitutes "lacking" and if they won't budge, we have to either accept that or move on. Thus, I need to move on. I'll wait a bit while I see what Moritz, Rockway or others do.
In the case of use.perl, I expect pudge might even be a bit relieved that people who are complaining are leaving. Less stress for him and he can keep using use.perl for whatever he uses it for.
Re:It's a shame...
ZuLuuuuuu on 2009-05-20T16:38:15
Is use.perl.org owned by 1 person and if he does not want to change the site then it is not changed?
This site is like, well, how a user-friendly site should not be done. I visit here only if I read an entry on planet and want to comment.
But the "idea" behind use.perl.org is good.
I've been happy using (perl-based) Movable Type on a shared hosting account. Using a perl-based blogging platform is one more way to support the community. (And there is talk in the MT community of refactoring it to use CGI::Application and other CPAN modules).
It runs multiple blogs out of the box, so you can easily run your technical blog and personal blog in one place, as I do:
http://mark.stosberg.com/blog
http://mark.stosberg.com/bike
My "Perl" category is subscribed to by PerlSphere.
I also prefer the philosophy of a decentralized grassroots network of blogs, rather than giving centralized control to some third-party organization.
Re:Movable Type
sigzero on 2009-05-19T23:00:12
I hope they do refactor it and get rid of the PHP dependency for dynamic stuff.
Re:Movable Type
autarch on 2009-05-19T23:10:28
It's also pretty easy to tweak MT so that you can have per-category RSS feeds in one blog. I've done this, so I effectively have three (yes, three), three blogs in one!
Re:Movable Type
Ron Savage on 2009-05-20T02:14:02
Hi Mark
> (And there is talk in the MT community of refactoring it to use CGI::Application and other CPAN modules).
Are they going to use CGI::Explorer to show replies to posts?
Cheers
RonRe:Movable Type
markjugg on 2009-05-29T17:29:34
If someone makes a case that CGI::Explorer would be a good replacement for some they do internally now, I think it would be considered.
Re:Movable Type
kgish on 2009-05-20T10:04:21
Yeah Movabletype is great stuff, I use it myself and am very pleased with it. See my web log at http://www.kiffingish.com/ .
A LiveJournal reboot, an Ohloh commit graph that looks fantastic, a diverse and inclusive Perl community.
Looks like a great candidate...
Re:What about using Catalyst?
Ovid on 2009-05-20T10:11:33
Which sounds nice, but I've no desire to write a blogging engine
:)
Perl Is Alive has per-user weblogs, just like use.perl. It's actually lot like use.perl, except that it's pretty and works better on Opera. There's not too many users around yet, but as the number of people leaving use.perl grows, I hope a number will head there.
(Not affliated with them, just a happy user!)
Re:PerlIsAlive.org
ZuLuuuuuu on 2009-05-21T22:29:14
Wow, it looks pretty impressive!
