I first heard of the Perl Monks after the first YAPC,
where the site was mentionned as a sponsor and a strong
community.
I started lurking every now and then on the site about a
year ago before registering in April, lurking some more,
then eventually posting on my favorite topic
(XML of course) and being biten by the XP bug. I have been
posting regularly since then...
I think YAPC is the perfect place for Perl Monks to be.
Both the conference and the site carry the same sense
of community, the feeling that we should help
each other because we share the same love for our job
and our language, that beyond its technical merits it
carries a set of values that we all support. Those values
being freedom, fun and the search for excellence, elegance
and ingeniosity.
Beyond that I first thought that the XP system was just a
gimmick, but as I started posting, then voting, I realized
it plays a major role on the site:
- knowing that your post will be read, evaluated, voted
on and then carry a reputation makes you think twice about posting,
check your code and generally improves the quality of
posting, and just as important makes you cancel more
than one impulse post, thus increasing dramatically the
SN ratio of the whole site.
- voting on other posts makes you read them all (or at least
as many of them that can fit in a busy day), and really
think about their technical (or philosophical!) merits,
thus giving you the opportunity to learn even in areas
you might not be directly interested in.
So Thanks PM, thanks vroom and thanks to all the saints,
monks, initiates and Anonymous Monks that make me hit the
reload button every 30 seconds when I get a chance! (BTW, idea
for a poll: "how many times a minute do you hit the reload button")
Update: hey! by the way, this was my 100 posts, cool! Now on my way to merlyn's score!
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