I think it was hugely influential. The beginners' list is still thriving today. QED.

I bet I'm not the only one who uses Perl (instead of Python or Ruby, for instance) because things like beginners@perl.org, learn.perl.org, PM, etc. exist.

In 2001, usenet was (and still is) a quagmire. (Endless September, etc.) If I were starting out and the only place to ask for help was p5p or comp.lang.perl.*, I would have found some other language. Or some other career. =)

Beginners shake things up as much as they drag things down. Good beginners ask things that make you think twice about stuff. West took an explicit stand, and concrete steps, to both welcome and to make room for beginners in the Perl community. I've benefited from that, and lots of other people too, and so (I think) has Perl.

Even NodeReaper is more polite than he used to be. =) (I work in software QA-- I would have enjoyed reading that reaped node from 2001. Heck, I might even repost it now, 3 years later-- except I'd be one of the first ones with a comment!)

I had fun finding the article and reading the historical reaction to it on PM. I'm glad other folks liked it too.