Perl newby here, love it as well.
My Java/Web Technologies/Web Programming 'teacher'(more of an instructor really) is always preaching the Sun propaganda that Java servlets are the future.

That may be true, or even unrelated, but the fact remains, while there are many alternatives, Perl still runs a lot of the web(Yahoo ...).

Also, like athomason pointed out, Perl is mature. What's that mean, it means it's been here from the start, went through puberty in the jungle that is the 'net, and is now a 200 900 pound gorilla ready to eat you alive.

Anyway, while Perl is wonderful, and oh so very 'sweet!'-Eric Cartman - Cold Fusion has only one thing over it's head, and it's multithreading.

And if your friend points that out when you ask him 'what Cold Fusion can do that Perl can't, simply reply : "Perl can run on pretty much anything, not just Win* machines, like Cold Fusion."

 
"cRaZy is co01, but sometimes cRaZy is cRaZy".
                                                      - crazyinsomniac