(job) security through obscurity

While searching for "eyetee"-related jobs in my area, I was surprised to see a number of listings for Perl developers. After looking at one, I was no longer surprised:

We need someone to come in and Crack open, modify, and replace some old code written in Perl.

Translation: some idiot who worked here 15 years ago wrote a bunch of Perl scripts that our entire system runs on, and none of our current staff can decipher them.

Offered extremely flexible hours, full-time or part-time, or even a work-from-home arrangement. Really made me appreciate how valuable our arcane art is.

And they all scoffed at me for claiming that Perl is still marketable in $current_year...

$,=qq.\n.;print q.\/\/____\/.,q./\ \ / / \\.,q. /_/__.,q..
"Structurally, Perl is a brainf*ck comparable to that of brainf*ck."

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Re: (job) security through obscurity by LanX (Saint) on Sep 09, 2018 at 10:10 UTC
Dilbert's Holy Grail of Technology ! :) Cheers Rolf _{(addicted to the Perl Programming Language :) Wikisyntax for the Monastery FootballPerl is like chess, only without the dice}	[reply]
Re: (job) security through obscurity by Anonymous Monk on Sep 09, 2018 at 07:06 UTC
This is exactly what gives Perl a bad name... but it pays the bills. And maybe you get to clear some of Perl's good name in the process.	[reply]
Re^2: (job) security through obscurity by RonW (Parson) on Sep 11, 2018 at 21:24 UTC
This is exactly what gives Perl a bad name... The same could be said about any other programming language: "We used to use X, but now we use Y and nobody here knows X. We need someone to deal with that stinking pile of X so we don't have to."	[reply]
Re: (job) security through obscurity by zentara (Cardinal) on Sep 09, 2018 at 19:08 UTC
I want to be the first to claim that the "Perl Sleuth's" website is hiring. Free travel. Free hotels, work from home All we ask is that you figure out this old Perl code. See all you true-believers who hung in there, finally Perl is marketable. Name your price. Free Camel Jockey iron patch, to all who apply ...... to distinguish you from all the other code jockeys. I'm not really a human, but I play one on earth. ..... an animated JAPH	[reply]
Re^2: (job) security through obscurity by stevieb (Canon) on Sep 09, 2018 at 19:33 UTC
My application: My CPAN My Github That should say it all ;) Now, where's my patch!	[reply]
Re^3: (job) security through obscurity by zentara (Cardinal) on Sep 10, 2018 at 13:38 UTC
Hey, when is the Rasperry Pi for Perl pdf book come out? I signed up and was wondering if it was done yet. I'm about to ramp up my Pi and Arduino breadboarding. :-) I eagerly look forward to it. I'm not really a human, but I play one on earth. ..... an animated JAPH	[reply]
Re^4: (job) security through obscurity by stevieb (Canon) on Sep 10, 2018 at 20:43 UTC
Re^3: (job) security through obscurity by zentara (Cardinal) on Sep 10, 2018 at 13:40 UTC
Oh.... the patch, the patch is free, just get yourself one. :-) I'm not really a human, but I play one on earth. ..... an animated JAPH	[reply]