Re: Perl's Glory Days Are Behind It, But It Isn't Going Anywhere

Hi Elaine,

thanks for your message. See below for my response.

On Fri, 08 Feb 2013 22:03:40 -0500
Elaine Ashton <[email protected]> wrote:

> On Feb 7, 2013, at 10:56 PM, Jacinta Richardson <[email protected].=
au>
> wrote:
> >=20
> > There's another key difference that should be recognised, and the situa=
tion
> > isn't that there is a dire shortage of women who know Perl (25-30% of P=
erl
> > 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.  Not for fun. =20
>=20
> I'd say that the percentage is higher as women are very well represented =
in
> system administration where perl remains a very common tool, but as plumb=
ers
> we aren't thought of until something breaks. I'm one of those crabby sorts
> and I was pleasantly surprised by the perl folks at the first perl confer=
ence
> since I had spent years lurking as a male persona on irc and usenet. 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 wide var=
iety
> of interests and the curiosity for more. The fun of the perl community is=
n't
> with perl but with everything else.
>=20
> I will also say that I gave up on many things not because it wasn't fun b=
ut
> because there are those who don't have basic social graces and who make t=
he
> thought 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.=20
>=20
> Since I'm on about telling the truth and trying to guilt the silent into
> believing that silence is not a helpful act, I'll be direct about the his=
tory
> 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 want a Perl History
> according to a megalomaniacal dude who filled the timeline with his own
> milestones (Don't waste your time Shlomi).=20

I admit I may be self-promoting and ego-maniacal and self-centred and lots =
of
other stuff. However, I also care about the Perl community (and the global =
open
source community in general, since I'm trying not to be a tribalist), and a=
lso
agree that my own interests and those of the community at large align more
often than not. For example, http://perl-begin.org/ was primarily my endeav=
our,
which I have promoted and boasted of, but many people also found it a useful
resource, and it proved of utility.

The secret to deal with problematic people is not to go on a feud with them,
and decide you want nothing to do with them, but rather to acknowledge
whatever faults they have, and try to deal with them, despite that and make
the best of the situation. See: http://shlomifish.livejournal.com/1747.html
(=3D =E2=80=9Cthe Stoic road to peace of mind=E2=80=9D). I think many paren=
ts to children will
testify that their children can be disobedient, or mischievious, or not do
their homework or their chores on time, or whatever, but they still love th=
em
despite all that, and try to educate them in whatever way is possible.
Perfection is in imperfection.


> I'm aware that it has gone
> unmantained, but it's my project and I'd like to hand it off to someone w=
ho
> isn't going to use it as a way to jerk themselves off and those sorts 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 maintain=
ed,
> they didn't write it and don't have the stories I do. :) even so. The epi=
sode
> left me feeling again that no good deed goes unpunished which best descri=
bes
> perl. My own other half has bitter memories of being pumpkin which is an
> unfortunate, yet meaningful, tidbit. When even your most devoted think
> they've not spent their time as well as they'd have hoped.....

Seems like you are trying to protect the family's Jewels. I have the opposi=
te
view, in which I'd rather people build upon my work and take it in all
directions, because people are more willing to read or contribute to someth=
ing
that is under CC-by, CC-by-sa, etc. or other permissive or copyleft licence=
s,
than to contribute to something that is under a much stricter licence, while
people who are nefarious (e.g: spammers) won't care even if it's
All-Rights-Reserved and proprietary.

You may wish to read about the noble and highly moral teaching and deeds of
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saladin (though the English Wikipedia article =
has
become too detailed) for how to turn your enemies into friends, treat
competitors with respect and avoid silly feuds and =C2=ABan-eye-for-an-eye=
=C2=BB and =C2=ABmay
my soul die with philistines=C2=BB bitterness. It is applicable for the sof=
tware and
digital media worlds today, as much as it applied to warfare back then.

Regards,

	Shlomi Fish

--=20
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Shlomi Fish       http://www.shlomifish.org/
Apple Inc. is Evil - http://www.shlomifish.org/open-source/anti/apple/

When Chuck Norris uses git, he takes a coffee break after initiating every =
git
commit. And then he waits for the commit to finish.

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