I first heard of the Perl Monks after the first YAPC,
where the site was mentionned as a sponsor and a strong
community.
I started lurking every now and then on the site about a
year ago before registering in April, lurking some more,
then eventually posting on my favorite topic
(XML of course) and being biten by the XP bug. I have been
posting regularly since then...
I think YAPC is the perfect place for Perl Monks to be.
Both the conference and the site carry the same sense
of community, the feeling that we should help
each other because we share the same love for our job
and our language, that beyond its technical merits it
carries a set of values that we all support. Those values
being freedom, fun and the search for excellence, elegance
and ingeniosity.
Beyond that I first thought that the XP system was just a
gimmick, but as I started posting, then voting, I realized
it plays a major role on the site:
- knowing that your post will be read, evaluated, voted
on and then carry a reputation makes you think twice about posting,
check your code and generally improves the quality of
posting, and just as important makes you cancel more
than one impulse post, thus increasing dramatically the
SN ratio of the whole site.
- voting on other posts makes you read them all (or at least
as many of them that can fit in a busy day), and really
think about their technical (or philosophical!) merits,
thus giving you the opportunity to learn even in areas
you might not be directly interested in.
So Thanks PM, thanks vroom and thanks to all the saints,
monks, initiates and Anonymous Monks that make me hit the
reload button every 30 seconds when I get a chance! (BTW, idea
for a poll: "how many times a minute do you hit the reload button")
Update: hey! by the way, this was my 100 posts, cool! Now on my way to merlyn's score!
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How did you found the way to this place?
I think this would make another interesting poll.
- I did a google search on Perl
- Saw it in Stonhenge ;)
- Followed the link on slashdot
- other
- I just rubbed my eyes real hard, and there it was.
- I just couldn't help stumbling over it.
and so on ...
neophyte | [reply] |
- read about module reviews available here
- gained somewhat enlighment so just got lead here through a vision I had due to my perlish religion
{grin}
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- Heard Gnat talk about it multiple times at yapc 19100
Chris
M-x auto-bs-mode
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- was told about it by a friend
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How did you all get here?
I read Slashdot for a while before I found their nodelets, and added PerlMonks on a whim, because it sounded kind of neat. I was weeks before I actually checked it out, since it was at the bottom of my nodelist. Now I log into PM almost every day, and the only time I hear about Slashdot is when my friends send me an article from it. I like it better here. It's a lot more cosy.
I have independently developed a plan similar to Blue's and am following it with fair success. Just out of curiosity, how many of us are System Administrators who started perl because they had to modify a script to add users/count quotas/hits on a webpage/etc...?
I also admit to being quite intimidated by the masters around here, but I like it because I think it encourages me to make sure my posts are good, since I have a high standard to aim for.
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Jeremy | [reply] |
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