One thing most everyone with objections to Perl 6 seems to overlook is that it will allow the programmer to actively interfere with the parsing and compilation: the Perl 6 grammar will be available as a built-in Perl 6 pattern grammar and we'll be able to work on the underlying Parrot VM level. It may be awkward at first, but so was source filtering in Perl 5, and that has been addressed by way of modules, some of which made it into the 5.8 core.

I am wary indeed of the possibilities for abuse this opens up, much like define macros offer in C, but on the other hand I shiver (with anticipation) to think what the likes of TheDamian will be able to do this way.

In addition, I'm fairly certain that if Perl 6 gets something wrong in a way most of us dislike and which is fixable by way of such low level interaction, then a module or several will sooner or later be written and, if they meet expectations, be widely adopted by the community.

I am, surprise surprise, not 100% satisfied with all of the proposed changes for Perl 6 myself but I quickly got over my fear. For one thing, I realized that many features in Perl 5 must have looked just as bizarre to the Perl 4 crowd, meaning I will likely get used to the "strange" stuff and eventually take them for given. And ever since Apocalypse 5, I'm absolutely optimistic that if there's anything I feel is really awful, I will be able to fix it for myself - the sky is the limit. That, and your imagination.

Makeshifts last the longest.

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