Why Perl Monks is a place to be reverred

I recently joined PerlMonks and to be honest, initially I did not quite like this place. It seemed to ostentatious and rude with the users. The notion of reputation, experience points, the power of some one to just delete/edit your writeup and several such things. I thought I deserve a better respect and freedom

I am a user of different kinds of forums and sites, where I can just speak my mind, pose my problem and wait for someone to respond. There are no rules at such places. There are merely some guidelines, which no one bothers to follow and one cant be punished or rebuked for being sloppy

If I do the same kind of thing here, I can be chained by janitors, threatened by users through reputation. Essentially, I could afford to be sloppy. I need to frame my question very clearly and get to the point correctly and format my write up neatly, else I will be bombarded

After reading review about this book The cult of Amateur in NYT I suddenly realized how PM is quite different from the places where the author is referring. It struck to me how those rebukes made me think twice, search thrice before posting anything. It is bringing the best of me and in esesnce trying to make everyone act their best

Here what matters is quality of the content rather than the quantity. The site's primary objective is to spread Perl and solve meaningful problems not commercialization

I do not see any ideas of commercialization of the site- it does not even Adsense. So, this is a place where Perl lovers gather and muse and show what wonderful things can be done with Perl. Other than love for Perl and programming and to share and increase knowledge there is no other materialistic gains expected by any one - not even the maintainers.

It is not quite often you find a place over the net, which forces the users to go through several articles before posting anything, which forces you to preview the content before posting. It literally ushers users to be serious. While other places literally beg users to post something, even crap, this place is different. And the remarkable thing is this place maintains a kind of humor and interest with those rankings, XP etc..

PM is a quite different place, whose philosophy right from the beginning is what should be the philosophy behind other sites. I am sure that after a while of this user-generated content bubble and flow of amateur content over the WWW. Soon, sites with quality content will gain popularity. And PerlMonks will be an example of other sites. Hail PerlMonks! I revere you

Comment on Why Perl Monks is a place to be reverred

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Re: Why Perl Monks is a place to be reverred by Your Mother (Archbishop) on Jun 30, 2007 at 21:06 UTC
Other than love for Perl and programming and to share and increase knowledge there is no other materialistic gains expected by any one - not even the maintainers. It is indeed nice to have a site uncluttered by Java book ads and pink slices of dating site meat. That said, there is nothing wrong with materialistic gains. Many, most?, monks make money with Perl. Food and rent/mortgage are awfully materialistic concerns. Job related questions, when placed respectfully and meaningfully, are answered just as readily as golf and interesting algorithm ones. Knowledge is a form of wealth that grows more when invested than it does kept under the mattress. As someone in here recently said, you sometimes learn more from answering questions than from asking them.	[reply]
Re^2: Why Perl Monks is a place to be reverred by perllove (Beadle) on Jul 01, 2007 at 12:08 UTC
Yes there is nothing wrong in materialistic gains. In fact I am a lover of money. But its good to see a place which comes together only for love and respect of something.	[reply]
Re: Why Perl Monks is a place to be reverred by greywolf (Priest) on Jun 30, 2007 at 21:27 UTC
One thing that still blows me away about PM is how quickly you'll get an answer to your question. Not only that but the answers are thought out and accurate. I've rarely had to ask a question because I can usually solve the problem by searching the archives. It's also great to see both questions and answers by people who wrote the book on Perl, literally. mr greywolf	[reply]
Re: Why Perl Monks is a place to be reverred by jdporter (Paladin) on Jul 01, 2007 at 02:47 UTC
This is the most sincere, succinct, and (imho) accurate description evar of why PerlMonks succeeds; and, consequently, why I devote so much time and energy to it. I wish much karma, XP, and happiness to you, wise novice! :-)	[reply]
Re: Why Perl Monks is a place to be reverred by tinita (Parson) on Jun 30, 2007 at 23:21 UTC
I rever you i'm not a native english speaker, and i also didn't find "to rever" in any dictionary. what does it mean? ah, betterworld suggested "to revere", that makes sense.	[reply]
Re^2: Why Perl Monks is a place to be reverred by grinder (Bishop) on Jul 01, 2007 at 09:54 UTC
i also didn't find "to rever" in any dictionary That's because it's a typo for revere (to honour, to venerate, to hold in great esteem). • another intruder with the mooring in the heart of the Perl	[reply]
Re^3: Why Perl Monks is a place to be reverred by Gavin (Archbishop) on Jul 01, 2007 at 11:26 UTC
I agree with you typo, but there is a french word "rever" meaning "dream of" but perhaps not the same intended meaning or then again you never know !!	[reply]
Re^2: Why Perl Monks is a place to be reverred by Anonymous Monk on Jul 01, 2007 at 07:02 UTC
i also didn't find "to rever" in any dictionary That's because they canceled Firefly. :( Yes, I'm sure the Revers will take care of PerlMonks eventually.	[reply]
Re^3: Why Perl Monks is a place to be reverred by Fletch (Bishop) on Jul 01, 2007 at 16:03 UTC
ITYM "reaver".</nit> (Goram network execs.)	[reply]
Re: Why Perl Monks is a place to be reverred by aufflick (Deacon) on Jul 02, 2007 at 02:13 UTC
True enough. I've also been thinking lately about how PM embodied all of the web 2.0 'vibe' (without the technology) for so many years before web 2.0: ratings; user 'ownership' of content; live interaction; tagging; mashups & api... maybe that's why the web 2.0 thing has always just seemed 'normal' to me.	[reply]
Re: Why Perl Monks is a place to be reverred by clinton (Priest) on Jul 04, 2007 at 08:37 UTC
The other thing I love about Perl Monks is that there are so many experts present on a regular basis. And, that the experts often disagree. There is seldom one answer to any question. Here exists true embodiment of the principle of There Is More Than One Way To Do It. Even when an opinion is strongly defended, there are reasoned explanations, and usually caveats or exceptions. We often solve problems in the way we have done so in the past. Here I've learned new techniques and new approaches to old problems. My checklist of things-to-consider before writing code has both grown, and grown more defined, thanks to the experience and depth of understanding of others. Thank you all for making PM what it is. Clint	[reply]
Re^2: Why Perl Monks is a place to be reverred by xiaoyafeng (Deacon) on Jul 05, 2007 at 18:18 UTC
clinton ++ That's why I spend so much time in PM. I am trying to improve my English skills, if you see a mistake please feel free to reply or /msg me a correction	[reply]
Re: Why Perl Monks is a place to be reverred by Argel (Prior) on Jul 02, 2007 at 19:19 UTC
++ For all the talk of online communites very few with that claim actually rise to the occasion. Perl Monks is one of those and I am very glad that I stumbled across it.	[reply]
Re: Why Perl Monks is a place to be reverred by Dru (Hermit) on Jul 06, 2007 at 04:10 UTC
++, I feel you summed up what many of us think, but haven't put it into words (or a post). Anytime someone says "Perl is dead", I send them a link to PM. I usually don't get a response back, which is the best response we could hope for. I've been on PM for 7 years and I love how it really hasn't changed much since then, which is one of the "features" I like best. -Dru Perl, the Leatherman of Programming languages. - qazwart	[reply] [d/l]
Re: Why Perl Monks is a place to be reverred by artist (Parson) on Jul 16, 2007 at 17:00 UTC
Your writing represents many of us want to say about perlmonks. Some sort of forum-ranking may put it above the rest. But that may not be necessary for people, who want to gain something from Perl. --Artist	[reply] [d/l]


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