There was an interesting post today on Slashdot. The post was a review of Perl 6 Now. The review was a good overview of the book, but what was really interesting were the comments that followed.
The comments mostly had nothing to do with Perl, but instead focused on zealots of other languages touting that Perl is dead and we should move on to (python|ruby|php|bash). Apparently those posters weren't aware that Slashdot is built in Perl.
But I guess what says the most is that every serious Perl programmer I have met or interacted with has had an above average maturity level and intelligence. There was an article in the Perl Review a couple issues ago about how (not) to be a perl advocate. To quote:
"Another language doesn't have to suck for Perl to be good"
If only those avid commenters on Slashdot had read that and thought about their language of choice in that light...
I haven't read the book, but any author who gives their own book a 5-star review on Amazon makes me a bit dubious of the quality contained therein. However, the comments that follow, at least at the threshold I read at, aren't all that wacko. You have to ask yourself why anyone who isn't gonzo for perl, would wait 6 years or more for a language that will likely be obsolete by the time it comes to fruition, if that day ever comes.
Their skepticism and scoffing is warranted. If PHP had made a big stink about a grand new rewrite five years ago and were still just talking about it...I think perl people would be heckling them deservedly as well.
PHP and Python understood one thing very well while perl people were too busy telling people to fuck off or fix their spelling and that was to build applications that were easy to install and use for the average joe users. You, perhaps, never tried installing slash a few years ago.... Perl isn't dead, people have simply moved on while perl people wait for godot.
Re:for once, the /. crowd doesn't seem insane
Phred on 2005-08-19T04:08:44
I installed Slash a couple years ago, and you're right it's not easy. PHP and Python have gotten a lot of things right and there are a some awesome apps there. Gallery and Mailman are two good examples, although Mailman is not always fun to work with when implementing multiple domains. There's a lot of really smart PHP and Python programmers out there who I respect a great deal.
Perl was the fifth language I learned, but it's what I use most often and I guess seeing some of the comments bothered me, but my intention was not to spread reverse fud.
