Well, Tim is talking about Perl from his vantage point, which has to do with selling books. He keeps referring to Perl's "market", and there really isn't any such thing. It's free.

Right now, many of us are waiting for Perl 6. If we're cheap (like me), we'll hold off on buying books until some come out for Perl 6. I think that may well be part of what is causing other languages to seem more popular.

Anyway, I like Perl, and I will keep using it for a while. Other languages seem intriguing - I kind of like the idea of Python's formatting having significance - but right now Perl is doing everything I could ever ask of a language (Well, everything I ask *NOW*). I've already invested quite a bit of time in learning it (and yes, buying the books). Until I find myself hampered by some limitation of Perl, I have no good reason to switch.

Anyway, I haven't seen another community as helpful as Perl Monks, for any other language. Maybe they're out there, but I haven't found any. I'd rather stay here and get help, than strike out on my own with some new and possibly "faddish" language.