Its origins, being non-commercial, fostered a strong "gift society" (as tilly once put it I think.) The result is that giving advice, help, instruction, and so forth are the social norm in this community.
The "gift culture" actually applies, as mentioned, not only perl, but hacker-dom in general, as talked about in the Hacker FAQ (How to Become A Hacker). Written by the maintainer of the Jargon File, it's a very good read. Perl is more of a hacking language, which probably explains why its community is so giving.

elusion : http://matt.diephouse.com

In reply to Re: Re: Consideration of the Monk Trademark by elusion
in thread Consideration of the Monk Trademark by enigmae

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