jcwren, you have, in my opinion, a crusty personality. By saying that, I mean crusty in the Robert Heinlein sense (yes, that's a compliment -- most reader's familiar with his work will understand). You speak your mind, you don't seem terribly concerned about who you offend, and ... oh yeah ... your Perl is pretty good, too. I'm usually a bit more reserved in my comments, but I'll shoot straight from the hip, here: I think you're being foolish.

Don't get me wrong, I like you and respect you and if I ever get a chance to set foot on your houseboat, I hope you have a beer for me rather than a bullet :) I can certainly understand where you are coming from in all of this. I've not been coming to Perlmonks as much as I used to for some of the same reasons. I've not given up on it, though. Despite never having met you, from the messages and emails that we have exchanged, I think of you as a friend. I've also made quite a few friends from this site who I otherwise would never have had a chance to make.

As a result (both direct and indirect) of my regularly visiting and posting to Perlmonks, my Perl skill has improved tremendously, I had the opportunity to take a job in Amsterdam (due to a friendship I had formed with a fellow monk) and I've met some really great people. Putting knowledge of Perl aside, I think that the positives of this site have tremendously outweighed the negatives (I gotta remember to drop a check in the mail for the Offering Plate, if I can ever recover from the money I lost overseas -- looooong story).

My sincere hope is that you do as abigail, princepawn and others have done: take off for a while and then come back.

You will be missed.

Cheers,
Ovid

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