As others have said, the atmosphere here is excellent. Hardly a troll to be seen, helpful people and ontopic, ethical and sensible advice abounds.

Is it all because of the monastary analogy??

I think associating this site with a monastary works beautifully. While a monastary is a peaceful, contemplative place, it is also a place for hard work and practical behaviour. Of course, much of the discussion here is academic in nature, there is always the flipside practical element dropping in.

"P is for Practical"

One of the other things I love about this place is the conspicuous absence of people telling you what to do. Considering how similar this site is to everything2, it's remarkable how few 'dogmatic' documents there are here compared with there.

Perhaps it's the crowd? Many of the monks have their own sites - both personal and professional - so they know first hand how little a troll can accomplish. Having had a significant background in community websites myself, I have no difficulties dealing with trolls.

I also find that there is so much less pressure here than on other sites. You advance in the monastary at your own pace, with minimal incentives to rush to the top.
I'm sorry if I'm rambling, but what I'm saying here is that we have a great site here, not just a great perl site. Good work vroom!