I don't think the OP was saying he doesn't find Perl exciting. He wants to figure out how Perl can be "sold" as exciting to a wider audience. The biggest problem for Perl in the industry at the moment is a lack of Perl developers. And that seems to be because younger / newer developers aren't picking it up.

I think the only thing that can really get Perl back to where it once was, in terms of "buzz", is Perl 6.

*sighs* Why on earth do we want to have our name everywhere? Where is the cachet in that? Perl gets the job done, period.

And, frankly, I cannot think of a time where Perl was ever buzzed about. Ever. Not even the halcyon dotcom days. It just never happened.

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My criteria for good software:

1. Does it work?
2. Can someone else come in, make a change, and be reasonably certain no bugs were introduced?

Well, it's nice to have new developers coming through and joining the ranks. The main issue for Perl as far as the industry is concerned is that it's damn hard to find good developers (yes, it's hard to find good developers for any language, but Perl appears to be even harder).

Some people say "well, hire non-Perl devs and train them up", but that's really the problem. Because Perl doesn't seem exciting to a lot of people outside the community, the good non-Perl devs don't *want* to learn Perl. And if they're good devs, they can pick and choose their roles.

So companies are starting to phase out Perl because they just can't find developers. (The other usual Perl FUD most likely adds fuel to the fire).

Because sometimes the decision regarding the language in which to implement something is done by people who only know about the things whose names are everywhere.

Jenda


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