> Perl6 isn't going to make everyone happy. That's right, it isn't. Nor should it strive to.
First off, there are the folks who've no clue what Perl even is. Perl 6 won't make them happy. On the other hand, they won't really be disappointed with it, either. But that's a rather silly demographic to use as an illustration. The second group are those that weren't happy with Perl 5. Or Perl 4. Or Perl 3. Perl 6 isn't going to win them over. Sorry. (This may also seem like a silly demographic, but in truth, it's not. People who don't like Perl 5 won't like Perl 6, which kind of demonstrates how similar the two really are.) The third group that won't be happy with Perl 6 are those who program in a limited subset of Perl - so limited, in fact, that they will most likely be bitten by minor changes in the language, without the benefit of experiencing the major improvements that those changes allowed. These people are, by and large, not professional programmers, but folks for whom Perl is a simple and powerful tool in their jobs, and it will drive them crazy when their toolkits and recipes stop working. I should know, I support multitudes of these people. The fourth group will, we should hope, be happy with Perl 6. These are the folks who do program in Perl, and are constantly fighting against limitations, either real or perceived. Some may be happier than others, of course. It all depends on what you consider to be important to you. I do very little structured OO programming, for instance, so a lot of the improvements in that area I will undoubtedly be oblivious to. But as long as I can continue slinging my one- to ten-liners, I'll be content. The final group, those that have yet to discover Perl, are a toss-up. Many of them will hate Perl 6, no matter what name it was called by. But others... they will learn and love Perl 6 the way some of learned and loved Perl 5... or Perl 4... or even Perl 1. So, what *is* in a name? If a rose by any other name would smell just as sweet, why continue to call it a rose? Because identifiers are a proxy for what they represent - an evocation of the object without benefit of having one. Calling them roses allows you to share the sight and smell (and touch!) of the flower, along with the emotions that are inevitably coupled with it. Calling Perl 6 Perl allows those who dislike the thorns to beware, and those that appreciate the beauty to properly care for it. The only people who will probably care - not just comment on it, but truly care - about the name are the people in the third group. But for them, it's usually necessary only to stress the version number as a part of the name. For these people, it isn't just Perl - it's Perl 5. Which Perl 6 is not. -- Bryan C. Warnock [EMAIL PROTECTED]
