I agree with everyone's comments. People's opinion of this place borders on spiritual. While the comments in this thread discuss the lofty concepts and ideas behind the reason this place is great, let's not forget the small stuff though.

Simple things like XP. I'm not talking about XP whoring really. Just that, personally, it makes me think about the quality of my posts more, as I'm sure others do as well. Even when I'm in a pissy mood and someone's post might rub me the wrong way, I think about my post and if my mood shows, I rewrite it. Re: Non-English posts on Perlmonks, was one such node, after I read the preview it got rewritten before submission and it almost hit a 30 rep.

Aside from inspiring a conscientiousness in posting, it is also a way to learn what a quality post is. Despite all the excellent documentation on how to write quality posts, I still think people need to learn by getting their feet wet and trying it out.

Plus, I've yet to see the level of user participation that exists here in terms of site management, development, and maintenance. It makes me aspire to be a stronger participator as well. pmdev, Editors, they're made up of real people. Other sites almost have a dictatorship quality about it. Even to the point of disclaiming, "it's our way or the highway..." Perlmonks has a very democratic feel to it that is unparalleled.

~~
naChoZ