Re: Perl's Glory Days Are Behind It, But It Isn't Going Anywhere
[email protected] (Elaine Ashton) Fri, 08 Feb 2013 22:03:40 -0500
| Newsgroups | perl.advocacy |
|---|---|
| Message-ID | <[email protected]> |
--Boundary_(ID_FbGhgorEr4NTaZg3tuDr+A) Content-type: text/plain; CHARSET=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable On Feb 7, 2013, at 10:56 PM, Jacinta Richardson <[email protected]>= wrote: >=20 > There's another key difference that should be recognised, and the situatio= n isn't that there is a dire shortage of women who know Perl (25-30% of Perl= programmers out in business), there's a dire shortage of women involved in t= he Perl community. (between 2 and 6%) The tenacious women are learning Perl= , they're just doing so for work. Not for fun. =20 I'd say that the percentage is higher as women are very well represented in s= ystem administration where perl remains a very common tool, but as plumbers w= e aren't thought of until something breaks. I'm one of those crabby sorts an= d I was pleasantly surprised by the perl folks at the first perl conference s= ince I had spent years lurking as a male persona on irc and usenet. I'll adm= it the linguistic nerdery drew me in, but the whisky snobbery certainly seal= ed the deal. I think the appeal of the perl community is the wide variety of= interests and the curiosity for more. The fun of the perl community isn't w= ith perl but with everything else. I will also say that I gave up on many things not because it wasn't fun but b= ecause there are those who don't have basic social graces and who make the t= hought of going to the dentist vs doing something for the perl community a n= o-contest idea...at least the dentist offers painkillers and a smile.=20 Since I'm on about telling the truth and trying to guilt the silent into bel= ieving that silence is not a helpful act, I'll be direct about the history t= hat Shlomi asked me for ownership a few years ago and I refused because he's= even more self-promoting than Randal and I didn't want a Perl History accor= ding to a megalomaniacal dude who filled the timeline with his own milestone= s (Don't waste your time Shlomi). I'm aware that it has gone unmantained, bu= t it's my project and I'd like to hand it off to someone who isn't going to u= se it as a way to jerk themselves off and those sorts with spare time are ha= rd to find. Even without updates, I'm glad I did the timeline since even tho= ugh the critics bitch that it hasn't been maintained, they didn't write it a= nd don't have the stories I do. :) even so. The episode left me feeling agai= n that no good deed goes unpunished which best describes perl. My own other h= alf has bitter memories of being pumpkin which is an unfortunate, yet meanin= gful, tidbit. When even your most devoted think they've not spent their time= as well as they'd have hoped..... e.= --Boundary_(ID_FbGhgorEr4NTaZg3tuDr+A) Content-type: text/html; CHARSET=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable <html><head></head><body bgcolor=3D"#FFFFFF"><div><span class=3D"Apple-style= -span" style=3D"-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -we= bkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composit= ion-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); ">On Feb 7, 2013, at 10:56 PM= , Jacinta Richardson <<a href=3D"mailto:[email protected]">jaric= [email protected]</a>> wrote:</span></div><blockquote type=3D"cite"><= div> <br> There's another key difference that should be recognised, and the situation isn't that there is a dire shortage of women who know Perl (25-30% of Perl programmers out in business), there's a dire shortage of women involved in the Perl community. (between 2 and 6%) The tenacious women are learning Perl, they're just doing so for work. <b>Not for fun. </b><br></div></blockquote><div><b= r></div><div>I'd say that the percentage is higher as women are very well re= presented in system administration where perl remains a very common tool, bu= t as plumbers we aren't thought of until something breaks. I'm one of those c= rabby sorts and I was pleasantly surprised by the perl folks at the first pe= rl conference since I had spent years lurking as a male persona on irc and u= senet. I'll admit the linguistic nerdery drew me in, but the whisky snobbery= certainly sealed the deal. I think the appeal of the perl community is the w= ide variety of interests and the curiosity for more. The fun of the perl com= munity isn't with perl but with everything else.</div><div><br></div><div>I w= ill also say that I gave up on many things not because it wasn't fun but bec= ause there are those who don't have basic social graces and who make the tho= ught of going to the dentist vs doing something for the perl community a no-= contest idea...at least the dentist offers painkillers and a smile. </d= iv><div><br></div><div>Since I'm on about telling the truth and trying to gu= ilt the silent into believing that silence is not a helpful act, I'll be dir= ect about the history that Shlomi asked me for ownership a few years ago and= I refused because he's even more self-promoting than Randal and I didn't wa= nt a Perl History according to a megalomaniacal dude who filled the timeline= with his own milestones (Don't waste your time Shlomi). I'm aware that it h= as gone unmantained, but it's my project and I'd like to hand it off to some= one who isn't going to use it as a way to jerk themselves off and those sort= s with spare time are hard to find. Even without updates, I'm glad I did the= timeline since even though the critics bitch that it hasn't been maintained= , they didn't write it and don't have the stories I do. :) even so. The epis= ode left me feeling again that no good deed goes unpunished which best descr= ibes perl. My own other half has bitter memories of being pumpkin which is a= n unfortunate, yet meaningful, tidbit. When even your most devoted think the= y've not spent their time as well as they'd have hoped.....</div><div><span c= lass=3D"Apple-style-span" style=3D"-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26,= 26, 0.292969); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469= ); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); "><br></sp= an></div><div><span class=3D"Apple-style-span" style=3D"-webkit-tap-highligh= t-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(17= 5, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0= .230469); "> e.</span></div></body></html>= --Boundary_(ID_FbGhgorEr4NTaZg3tuDr+A)--