Is it “important to counter FUD?” Probably not, actually. It just isn’t worth the cost. Just watch it float away down the river and disappear.

Flotsam and even jetsam, may float away on the tide, but mud sticks.

Hence, in many circles, Perl(5) is still stuck with the "readonly line-noise" tag that originated from Perl(4) days. Even in an age when many of the users of that tag have little or no understanding of what "line-noise" actually looks like.

It's pretty intolerable when it originates outside the community. Far worse when it comes from within.

So I think it is important. See the second quote in the first line of my sig.

Or as another monks tag has it: "You have enemies? Good, you stood up for something in this life." credited to Winston Churchill. Maybe there's something in the local water.