in reply to Has Perl Help To Further Your Career?

Well, yeah, if it weren't for Perl, my paychecks for the past 13 years would have been a lot smaller. Then again, so would my lawyer bills. {grin}

I also can't imagine how my name would have been in print literally 20 million times, although I had already produced and written a shelf-ful of books before I started on the first camel. They just didn't have my name anywhere visible, since I had been a technical ghostwriter.

-- Randal L. Schwartz, Perl hacker
Be sure to read my standard disclaimer if this is a reply.

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Re^2: Has Perl Help To Further Your Career?
by Coruscate (Sexton) on Jan 15, 2003 at 09:43 UTC

    "... although I had already produced and written a shelf-ful of books ..."

    I suppose you wouldn't be willing to dramatically increase your lawyer bills by giving an example or two of these books? :P

[reply]
      Oh, they weren't very exciting. And there's nothing that keeps me from listing them in a public place, except my memory. {grin}

      Stuff like (titles approximate):

      • Tektronix 8002 Microprocessor Development Lab User's Guide
      • Tektronix 8560 User's Manual
      • Sequent System User Manual
      • Tandem System C2 Security Administration Guide
      • Intel 80960XA Processor Architecture Manual
      • and a lot more that I'm forgetting right now...
      Yeah, mundane stuff, for the salaries I drew at Tektronix and Sequent, and on contracts to Tandem and Intel/BiiN. The Tek and Tandem gigs were the best, because I learned the techwriting biz and structures under the watchful eyes of a legend in the industry, Lyle Settle. That's the "Lyle" in the dedication in the Llama preface. The "Jack" there is Jack Falk, a superb techeditor at Tek, and the guy who taught me to write like I talk.

      -- Randal L. Schwartz, Perl hacker
      Be sure to read my standard disclaimer if this is a reply.

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