On Wednesday 17 January 2007 4:13 pm, Jesse Stay wrote: > On 1/17/07, Paul Seamons <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Generally, those that get uptight about it probably are not the ones you > > want to be working with. Attention to detail is good. Attention to > > minutia is generally bad. Be broad in what you accept and strict in what > > you emit. Add any other applicable cliche here. > > Um, I disagree here. Some of the smartest Perl programmers I know > (Including Randall Schwartz) are known to be picky about it.
Bingo. I know that Randall is brilliant. Randall is great at making things work. He is fine at helping to build community. I also know that I wouldn't want him working for me (and my make-believe company). If you watch Randall's posts on perlmonks, he has softened and matured over the years. He doesn't appear to be as picky about the issue as he once was. Isn't it great that we can learn over time. Being a smart Perl programmer doesn't mean somebody will be a good employee. > The question becomes, do they know why they are picky about it? The majority of people being picky about it have little reason to be picky about it. Randall has been around plenty long to have every right to be picky. Anybody being solicited for a Perl job on this list has not been writing perl long enough to be picky. I'd say the number of people who can be picky about it is under 50 world wide - and that would be limited to the core contributors to Perl 5 and earlier. Everybody else is too much a beneficiary to be able to set policy for Perl culture, or even try to enforce it. > It's often those that have been programming it for years, have written > about it, have helped evolve the community, etc. that are the most > picky. Three or four old timers on perlmonks doesn't qualify as "most". Also important to note: though there is some overlap, the community of perlmonks.org is not the Perl community. > If you want those types, I suggest you be picky about PERL vs. > Perl or perl. When I am speaking about Perl or perl "I" am specific. When I'm listening to somebody else, I really don't care how they place the case. I'd much rather listen to what they are saying than how they are "saying" it in text based message. Somebody who is picky about things that don't matter is most likely not going to be concerned about the things that I am concerned about. > Most of the Perl programmers I've met that are picky > about it are only trying to defend the community they have long > programmed in. Most of the ones I've met are really just being picky. Many, if not most are trying to earn points on perlmonks. Or in an odd psychological exchange are trying to earn karma back for karma that they lost the first time that they posted PERL to perlmonks. > If you want to name it how it was originally spelled, you should call > it "Pearl", which Larry Wall named after "Parable of the Pearl". He > realized before it was launched however that there was already a PEARL > language so he named it "Perl". It has since been adapted as "Perl" > when referring to the language, and "perl" when referring to the > interpreter. Thank you for helping me with the history of Perl. I don't recall Larry getting up in arms about the case of Perl. He may have given corrections in rare occasions and I'm sure he has even authored instructions about how you "should" use the word Perl in different situations. Based on watching his responses on mailing lists and at perlmonks, I don't think he really cares about this argument. Any new mailing list poster who is new to perl mailing lists or community who unwittingly spells perl wrong in a question to Larry amazing has Larry answer his question - not dwell on how he spelled perl wrong. The best way to isolate a newcomer is to throw culture police idioms at them. > While PERL has many possible acronyms, most seasoned > veterans won't even consider your posting if you list it as "PERL". I hope you aren't speaking for the seasoned veterans. Seasoned veterans who don't know how to help somebody who doesn't know better aren't the ones that are good at building a community. > It's a community thing. It is a thing which I abide (as in I am strict what I emit) but I do not enforce (as in I am broad in what I accept) because I am contributing to the community. Thank you for helping me clarify things. Paul /* PLUG: http://plug.org, #utah on irc.freenode.net Unsubscribe: http://plug.org/mailman/options/plug Don't fear the penguin. */
