2- Yeah! ... umm, are we *paying* you for this?Not any more. In fact, like Larry and several others on the design team, I'm now paying for the privilege of doing it. ;-)
If the TPF isn't supporting you folks anymore, what's the best way for those of us out in the field to contribute financial support to the development of Perl6?
Thanks Mark. Your desire to support our work in that way means a great deal.
I can't speak for Larry, but in my case the best way to help me help Perl nowadays is to help me find people who would like to pay me to train them (or, better still, to train their organizations). Since June last year, that's how I've been getting by. But the training market is very weak just now, so if you know anyone who might be interested in learning from me, I'd deeply appreciate hearing about it.
Even if you don't know anyone with an unallocated training budget, it will help if you just bear in mind that running a training business is a full time occupation in itself, and every day I do manage to find work translates to about a week away from Perl 6, what with marketing, and contracts, and preparation, and travel, and delivery, and accounting, and etc. Sure, I was vastly more productive when Perl was my full-time job. As was Larry. But that's no longer possible. Just understanding that and accepting it patiently is a genuine way to support us.
I'm sure you can imagine the weight of expectation that must sit upon Larry's broad shoulders each time another Apocalypse is due. Or upon my head, when each Apocalypse has to subsequently be explained. ;-) It has meant a great deal that people like yourselves -- who are so clearly very eager for these documents -- have waited so patiently as changing financial circumstances have continually slowed the pace at which we can produce them.
And don't write off the Perl Foundation yet. TPF is just about to do a survey of what people think they (TPF) should be funding. If you believe Larry and/or myself and/or other members of the design or implementation teams are worth sponsoring, I'd certainly urge you to respond to that survey when it's announced (and, yes, I'll inform the mailing list when that happens).
Meanwhile, Larry wasn't kidding when he wrote:
"The next major [apocalypse]...may take a while since (like a lot of people in Silicon Valley) I'm in negative cash flow at the moment, and need to figure out how to feed my family. But we'll get it done eventually."
He's been in "negative cash flow" for some time now. As has Dan. As have several other members of the design team. That said, we certainly don't *expect* the community to fund the work we do. It would be great if they could, but as Larry points out many of them are hurting too. Meanwhile, we'll keep working on the design as best we can, come what may.
None of us is asking for a hand-out. What we're asking for is that the community understand that we're all doing the best we can, within the limitations of our individual and collective resources.
Damian
