This may be a little off the usual topic (bug reports, howto etc) but I am genuinely curious to know
what other list members think about it. Back in 2000 or so, when I started using apache, mod_perl
and Embperl, it was a really dynamic scene and quite exciting with all the possibilities for cool
app development. There were other languages (Java, PHP) and other competitors within the perl
universe (Mason, Template::Toolkit, AxKit) but in general the mod_perl/Embperl world seemed like a
bright place to be. Now, a few years later, I am not really seeing all that much in the way of
people "out there" talking about mod_perl, or even Perl. When they do, it's often in the context of
legacy applications, or "old fashioned CGI". Somehow, people have forgotten about mod_perl and how
capable it is.
I feel now that while I've been sitting here beavering away at my Embperl and mod_perl, somehow that
skillset became obselete. And now, in addition to the rest of the world moving on, I find that the
Apache API has changed, the mod_perl API has changed... was all that really necessary? Couldn't they
have retained some backward compatibility here? But quite apart from that internal stuff, the
attitude of the outside world to mod_perl/perl just feels sort of wrong and off-kilter, because I
know what the toolset can do and there's really nothing about the alternatives that have been taking
over (Java, PHP etc) that makes them any better than mod_perl. And, as we know, perl has such a
fantastic resource in the cpan. What's going on?
I am wondering, does anyone have a handle on this? Any comments or thoughts? Am I wrong in my
impression of what's happening? It seems that there are buzzwords, and every few years we get some
new ones and the "old" stuff just isn't "cool" any more. That's insane, because it looks like it
happens just as the tools become really mature and good enough for "real" use.
Is this because of the confusion (if it can be characterized thus) over Apache 2, mod_perl 2 and how
the APIs changed (are still changing perhaps, I haven't been keeping track)? For a long while, it
seems that whenever I checked out Apache 2, people would say it was ready for prime time... except
for mod_perl (and PHP, though I don't really track that one closely). Was it a big mistake to change
all the APIs, because it made people just go and use other platforms, or would that have happened
anyway?
I know there are still a lot of people using Perl and mod_perl, I'm not saying it's dead at all, but
simply that it appears to me to have become something of a legacy thing rather than being something
that managers would automatically think of using when they are considering new projects. I feel like
my resume has become obselete with this skillset, except in a relatively narrow niche (i.e. not all
that many jobs). Yes, I track jobs.perl.org, and no, I don't really see that as being "hot" right
now. There are jobs there, but compared to the industry as a whole it's not that many.
I don't really have any conclusions, except that I am considering boning up on newer "cool" stuff
such as Ruby on Rails, if only to try and keep my resume relevant. But I still have my own websites,
which continue to be implemented in mod_perl and Embperl. I'm not planning on jumping ship, but I
don't want to become stuck in the past either.
Any thoughts?
Thanks, and apologies if this seems to be off-topic.
-Neil
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