> Perl was originally built to beat out scripting alternatives so this is > fairly logical.
Actually, no, it wasn't. It was built by one guy to solve a problem that one or more combinations of existing tools did not. I think pulling the 'marketing' vector won't succeed any more now than it has in the past, mostly because it eventually lacks the enthusiasm that only a few really can attain. And popularity is rarely an indicator of quality. Perhaps the question might be better asked, what does C, and even moreso Java, have that perl apparently lacks. e.
