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The software and the community built around PerlMonks are big factors. Don't forget that there was a pretty strong sense of community around Perl before PerlMonks really took off.

I started lurking because the monks who also frequented comp.lang.perl.misc and comp.lang.perl.moderated were talking about this great place with discussion categories, a search engine of its own, user accounts that didn't necessarily allow people to get your email address, and near-real-time chat features. This place also didn't time out posts, was more persistent than IRC or even the newsgroups (other than the archives), and kept track of read posts everywhere based on the user rather than making me always SSH into one machine and use the same newsreader from there to keep threads straight.

I stayed and started an account in 2001 (and moved away from the newsgroups for Perl) for several reasons. The people were mostly friendly, overall knowledgeable, and not only willing but often eager to help people. There were plenty of questions I could answer as well as ask. The reputation system encourages people to read good nodes, which furthers good discussion.

The personal XP system isn't perfect, but it helps newbies to the site recognize someone who, even if not an expert at Perl, has some idea how the site itself works. It's important to get accustomed to the community, and the PM community having XP isn't just a game but actually helps when people see the majority of higher-ranking members acting with dignity and respect.

For example, this isn't a place to screw around and say stupid things and hurtful things, but humor is accepted and even encouraged. I don't mind a joke forum or a goof off forum, but I don't want my serious discussion about Perl topics to become one. The XP system, though imperfect, gives newbies a bit of a clue whose behavior is respected. Put a little humor in your otherwise serious post, and that's fine. Make a total joke program for Poetry or Obfu, and that's cool too. Don't post a JAPH to SoPW or call people names for laughs. The post reputation and personal XP systems encourage the behavior the community expects from people getting accustomed to the site, other than purposeful trolls who do the exact opposite.

This attitude of having a sense of humor but being frank and serious about the technical issues and about the expected behavior of participants in public fora is part of the Perl community. It's a goal of Larry, Damian, Tom, Tom, Randal, Jon, Tye, and many others throughout the community to be able to have a bit of fun but not miss the point of the forum, which is Perl. This relaxed yet purposeful atmosphere largely existed around Perl before PM was around, but the site administration certainly helps foster it. That's one of the best features of PerlMonks and the Perl community, right down to many the texts about the language. Being technical, thoughtful, or informative doesn't mean you have to be stuffy, and the Perl community seems to get that better than most.


In reply to Re: Why does PerlMonks rock? by mr_mischief
in thread Why does PerlMonks rock? by pileofrogs

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