Is it just me or does Perl seem to be singled out in getting bad PR of late?
Let's face it. Perl does have a security bug. That in general will create publicity, and usually not something that's very positive. Not just in Perl, but if there's a security issue in Firefox or in Windows, or with a certain brand of toasters, people will write about it.

Larry's article is opiniated, and it's clear he isn't Perls biggest fan. However, he isn't blatantly wrong - you might disagree with his opinions and conclusions, but that's a different matter. To some, Perl programs are modem noise (and some Perl program really are, even for me), and Perl did came forward as something between shell, AWK and C. That it was designed to do 'quick hack programming' isn't that far off - and there's certainly no denying that Perl is very suited 'quick hack programming' jobs.

ASP and PHP are mentioned as languages that have succeeded Perl in popularity, but none of their security problems are mentioned.
Yes, and? The article is about the recent security problem with Perl. A list of security issues in other languages is irrelevant. Do you think that if there's a security issue discovered in PHP or Ruby, articles mentioning those should also point out that Perl is insecure as well?
IMHO the author fails to note that insecure code can be written in any language,
Yes, but that's not the point. If car maker X has a model whose gas tank can explode, should an article discussing that mention you can drive any car into a brick wall? The point isn't that an insecure application was written that happen to use Perl. The point is that Perl itself has a security flaw. As Larry rightly writes: Another point about this vulnerability that will serve to confuse is that it is often described as a vulnerability in Webmin, a Web-based system administration tool written in Perl. But some reports, which I have confirmed with Dave Aitel of Immunity Inc., make it clear the underlying problem is in Perl itself.

Whining how cruel the world is by writing disapproving articles about your favourite toy won't make them go away. The bug will be fixed - and that's all that needs to be done. Acknowledge the fact, and act on it. That's what we expect from other products as well, and that's how we should react as well.

Perl --((8:>*

In reply to Re: eWeek article: Is a New Vulnerability the Tip of the Perl Iceberg? by Perl Mouse
in thread eWeek article: Is a New Vulnerability the Tip of the Perl Iceberg? by marto

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