Well, thanks.

Perl lost most of academia to Python

Yes, completely true, in the broader context of scientific data processing in general. Even in bioinformatics, which was a traditional stronghold of Perl, university courses now teach Python (and the few holdouts in backwater universities teach from decades-old, Perl 4 style textbooks, which is arguably worse than nothing).

I have half a mind to write a detailed post with statistics like counting the mentions of Perl vs. Python and the rest in texts of millions of articles on ArXiv.org, the number of new Perl vs. other project on github in a yearly breakdown, the number of users and posts/day related to Perl vs. others on stackoverflow, reddit and the likes, but seeing the reactions to my original outburst - should I even bother?

> I have half a mind to write a detailed post with statistics...

Devoting your time to improving Perl's image, writing the Killer App, or even learning Python would be more beneficial. The interested can read TIOBE index or StackOverflow Developer Survey.

($q=q:Sq=~/;[c](.)(.)/;chr(-||-|5+lengthSq)`"S|oS2"`map{chr |+ord
}map{substrSq`S_+|`|}3E|-|`7**2-3:)=~y+S|`+$1,++print+eval$q,q,a,
[download]

Agreed. There is still Perl code being written, paid work to be had, and meetups, workshops and conferences all over the world sponsored by the Perl community. London (e.g.) averages slightly more than one social meeting every month, along with technical talks and whatnot. Something not being as popular as one would prefer is not the same as being dead. But I don't expect this whining will ever stop, there are always a few who feel the need to complain at length and they mostly seem incapable of being consoled.

So I'm talking to the audience, not the doomsayers. Be cheerful! Write code and enjoy yourself if you can. :-)