My experience lately is just the opposite -- for me Perl is thriving. I'm not CGI-centric, rather I use Perl for core Windows system administration, log file analysis, data munging, etc. and fail to see why admins would use a scripting tool other than Perl on unix or Windows. Granted, Windows Admins have VBScript at their disposal by default and it's a decent admin scripting choice but Active State perl is a snap to install and much more powerful (IMHO) than VBScript.

One thing that's critically important to me for my Perl growth and excitement are good books (and an active community such as perlmonks). I've learned so much from many wonderful Perl book authors that I think they are one of the keys to Perl use and growth. Of course, the staple: "Perl Cookbook" was the first to open my eyes to the amazing power of Perl but I also highly value (and wish for more) Perl books catering to Windows admins. Books from Dave Roth and Linchi Shea's are gems for Windows admins and give us so much power to monitor our enterprises.

Note: it's rewarding to proudly display my Perl library at the entrance to my cube. I've had many folks ask about and borrow my Perl books and some of those folks get quickly hooked. My two "Learning Perl" books are very worn but I feel I owe it to myself and the Perl community to play librarian with my Perl books and try to get others excited about Perl.

Just my two cents worth.

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