Cute. I love the notion of a local paper ad.

I'm paying attention to this post partly because I know local real world comments can end up global on the net. A single comment yesterday by a politician friend of mine led to a tweet by someone who heard it which led to a call from the New York Times today. Push the right buttons, and a global discussion can ensue.

I love the notion of an ad for Perl 5, and Perl, that incidentally suggests how Perl 6 fits (or doesn't) into the landscape. I'm not expecting the NYT to pay attention, but maybe redditors could move another step forward in developing a more accurate understanding of the Perl landscape.

I've mulled what I think you're trying to say, and I've seen problems with the Real Soon Now bit from each of the angles I've tried. I'm presumably either seeing something you don't, or vice-versa. If you could explain what your message (or joke) is, that would be helpful to me (even if it ruins the joke).

Do you agree that "Real Soon Now" is a quick joke, not absolutely essential to whatever it is you're trying to say? "Real Soon Now" implies Perl 6 is right around the corner. If it's intended sincerely, I'd say it's a well meaning but mistaken notion. If it's a gentle dig, I'd say it's well meaning but counterproductive.

Getting to a "production ready" version, for a value of "production ready" that matches Perl 5's quality, may take many years. But I'm convinced Larry knows what he's doing, and that Perl 6 is virtually guaranteed to be a major part of Perl's long term future. It seems unhelpful to the Perl 5 community to either, on the one hand, disparage Perl 6, or on the other, be less than careful about when one suggests it's going to be ready. The Perl 6 project could do with more contributors; imo that's almost the only reason it's worth mentioning at all.