Perl outreach

[Kieren Diment]

On 27/11/2012, at 10:13 AM, Abigail wrote:

> For me, the top two reasons I use Perl (and there really isn't a third 
> reason):
> 
>  -  It's good enough for most of what I do.
>  -  I'm just too damn lazy to learn a different language.
> 

I quite agree with this.  

> Or, phrased differently, the cost of learning something else doesn't seem
> to outweight the benefits.
> 

Or to put it yet another way:  cross learning a different language in the same class as perl (wide field) is clearly trivial for a competent perl programmer (for some value of trivial that implies an initial discount on productivity or billable hours).  

So maybe what we should be promoting is that good perl people are valuable in any dynamic language situation where doing things the cheapest possible way isn't the primary goal. (not that perl's expensive - just a focus on cheap at all costs tends to be a sign of very bad management or a toxic industry segment).