On Feb 7, 2013, at 10:56 PM, Jacinta Richardson <jar...@perltraining.com.au> wrote: > > There's another key difference that should be recognised, and the situation > isn't that there is a dire shortage of women who know Perl (25-30% of Perl > programmers out in business), there's a dire shortage of women involved in > the Perl community. (between 2 and 6%) The tenacious women are learning > Perl, they're just doing so for work. Not for fun.
I'd say that the percentage is higher as women are very well represented in system administration where perl remains a very common tool, but as plumbers we aren't thought of until something breaks. I'm one of those crabby sorts and I was pleasantly surprised by the perl folks at the first perl conference since I had spent years lurking as a male persona on irc and usenet. I'll admit the linguistic nerdery drew me in, but the whisky snobbery certainly sealed the deal. I think the appeal of the perl community is the wide variety of interests and the curiosity for more. The fun of the perl community isn't with perl but with everything else. I will also say that I gave up on many things not because it wasn't fun but because there are those who don't have basic social graces and who make the thought of going to the dentist vs doing something for the perl community a no-contest idea...at least the dentist offers painkillers and a smile. Since I'm on about telling the truth and trying to guilt the silent into believing that silence is not a helpful act, I'll be direct about the history that Shlomi asked me for ownership a few years ago and I refused because he's even more self-promoting than Randal and I didn't want a Perl History according to a megalomaniacal dude who filled the timeline with his own milestones (Don't waste your time Shlomi). I'm aware that it has gone unmantained, but it's my project and I'd like to hand it off to someone who isn't going to use it as a way to jerk themselves off and those sorts with spare time are hard to find. Even without updates, I'm glad I did the timeline since even though the critics bitch that it hasn't been maintained, they didn't write it and don't have the stories I do. :) even so. The episode left me feeling again that no good deed goes unpunished which best describes perl. My own other half has bitter memories of being pumpkin which is an unfortunate, yet meaningful, tidbit. When even your most devoted think they've not spent their time as well as they'd have hoped..... e.
