On Sunday, October 01, 2000 4:02 PM, Jean-Louis Leroy [SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
wrote:
> > The Perl-KGB-elite has got to go, and a free republic must replace
> > it.
>
> I wouldn't go as far as your entire post, neither in form nor content,
> but I do have concerns about the sociopsycho(patho)logy of the Perl
> community.
Actually, I put it that way specifically to ruffle just the right feathers, in
the hope that Larry might pick up on it. My apologies to the
non-Perl-KGB-elite. I'm not known for tact.
> On a different, yet related issue: had there been a perl6-sociology
> list, I would have submitted the following:
>
> All newbies are not necessarily 'clueless newbies'
That's a different but related issue.
I was primarily addressing the issue of the P5P allowing the language to be
controlled by corporate presence through a purchased pumking, and not taking
responsibility for the language sufficient to protect it against corruption
(technical and political), and choosing rather to follow the man rather than
look where they're going. I've no idea why Sarathy was deposed, but I have a
pretty big suspicion. The problem is, I love Sarathy too. He's a hero, now with
a tarnished reputation, not necessarily solely because but definitely partially
because, of a poor choice in employers. But I can't support the decisions that
Sarathy made and why he made them. In order to address problems like "the
premature release of Perl 5.6 when it wasn't nearly ready just to satisfy a
Microsoft deadline", either a/the porters group needs to understand that they
need to concentrate on the road and not on the leader, or we need a group that
is capable or willing to do so.
As for the "everybody but me is an idiot" mentality, I believe that is one of
the main reasons that PHP and Python are gaining so much ground. In public
fora, nobody cares if you use mIRC (example 1 of many). In #perl on efnet,
unless you use BitchX on Solaris or something, you're an idiot, and can be
banned for just using mIRC (which is why years ago I migrated to Pirch and now
only go in under Linux).
The elitist mentality is two-fold then. It affects both the core language, and
the community. It harms the language by allowing its corruption, and destroys
open support and advocacy.
Do we still have time to make an RFC of some sort? And, if so, how could it be
phrased? I would prefer (due specifically to my lack of tact) to have someone
else write it, but I do have information that this person would need. I think
that the P6 version of the P5P should be matched with a body to govern the
politics of the language, whose members are elected and whose members may not
be employees of known or confessed monopolists (or, more realistically, have no
profit motive). If the monopolists want a voice in the politics, they should go
through objective representatives, and not buy up the most influential porters
to take control. Perl 6 is supposed to be made by and for the community. It
can't satisfy that requirement and exist under the same oppression (or,
minimally, negligence) that Perl 5 did.
At what point in Perl5's history did it become politically (socially) incorrect
to dislike Microsoft, and attempt to steer away from them and their allies, and
other companies who use similar tactics to Microsoft's to take over? IIRC, it
was July of 1998, when I erroneously coined the phrase "great perl merge", and
Sarathy found a new job.
Something's gotta budge. I do not want to pay for the privilege of using a free
language, and the "elite" need a damn good spaking to learn some manners to
newbies (for at least the sake of advocacy) and people who don't use their own
OS/Computer/Platform.
Python is nice (though a bit overcooked)? Perl is rude. Can't we all just get
along?
The little guy has to have a voice, or the big guys will stick it to them in
the end.
I've changed the subject, since we've tangented far enough to make a new one.
We have actual issues other than a single person's little snit.
