Read the essay again. Dominus said, in essence, Even though most people think of me as a Perl programmer, that is not how I think of myself. And proceeds to explain why he doesn't think of himself that way. Your response is to try to prove that he is a Perl programmer and therefore should think of himself that way as well.

My initial reaction was, What kind of asshole tries to tell people what they should think? My second reaction was, Geez, this is a first-class idiot who completely fails to grasp why Dominus has been so influential on the Perl community. My third reaction was to guess that you reacted so badly to the article because you (correctly) suspect that you're exactly the kind of person that Dominus is criticizing.

For your edification, the value that Dominus offers for the Perl community is his exposure to many ideas from the many different language communities that he has been, and remains, a part of. Coupled with his abilities at clearly presenting complex material, he has exposed many Perl programmers to critical ideas that they would otherwise not have encountered in the Perl world.

Yes, he is a Perl programmer. But he is not just a Perl programmer. Nor does he think of himself as a Perl programmer. And the fact that he isn't just a Perl programmer, and doesn't just think of himself that way makes him a better programmer (both in Perl and out). And has made many others better as well!