Don't forget that 3 of the 4 nodes sited by the OP were talking about helping relative beginners. Yes PM is for helping eachother in general, but I think it has a special mission to help those who are beginning to find their way, whether in Perl generally, or in some area that's new for them.

As grandfather points out in his node further down, most modules are best for something. I agree, it could hamstring innovation to pre-choose a list of "best" modules (going well beyond a set of reviews of module). Let's keep the variety for those who can best make use of it, but provide help to those who would be overwhelmed by it. Each area has one or two modules that go a little easy on beginners and occasional users, usually nat the expense of features, performance or flexibility. A Good Beginnings list would be very useful, and a name like "Good Beginnings", or some such, would tell people that this is just where to start, not where to stop.

We can have our cake and still make sure that new users have a good supply of solid bread, not just some cake crumbs. (Err... maybe the French Revolution isn't the best metaphore here.)

Anyway, it's good for the health and prosperity of Perl to make it easier for new and talented people to get things done using it.

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