http://www.perlmonks.org?node_id=837151

Should this site be treated as a resource for Perl questions beyond P5? I am specifically wondering about Perl 6, Pugs, Rakudo, NQP, and Parrot PIR.

The Monastery has been a great resource for nearly all of my Perl 5 questions, and I heartily endorse it any time I am discussing such resources with a novice JAPH. Should it also be a resource for Perl 6 and the Parrot VM? I don't mean meta-discussion about the perceived merits and flaws of Perl 6 or Parrot. I'm also not referring to the running PM gag that involves an Anonymous Monk complaining every few weeks/months about how Perl 6 doesn't exist - despite evidence to the contrary - followed by a barrage of comments supporting or refuting the claim.

I'm actually talking about Seekers of Perl Wisdom-style questions about the nuts and bolts of getting things done with Rakudo, or Meditations about how objects works via PIR, or whatever. You know, the stuff we talk about with Perl 5, just in a P6 context.

It would be great if the Monastery could be used in that way, but I also understand if there's fear of losing focus. Holding the door open to Parrot questions could lead down a dark murky path where somebody posts a question about help with some new full-stack MVC framework written in LOLCODE.

That'd be kinda cool, actually. It would be a long ways from Perl regexp help, though. Basically, the Perl pie has gotten pretty darn big in recent years. How big of a slice do Perl Monks want to handle? If somebody asks me where to get help for their Parrot questions, do I send them here?

Thanks for thinking about this.

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: What is the scope of Perl Monks?
by moritz (Cardinal) on Apr 27, 2010 at 17:57 UTC

    Perl 6 is definitively part of the scope of perlmonks. It's not perl5monks after all. And that implies all Perl 6 compilers like Rakudo, mildew and pugs.

    Also we're quite liberal here when it comes to discussing technologies related to perl. For example if somebody writes an XS module and has problems with the C part of it, people usually don't yell at that person for asking.

    I don't expect full MVC LOLSPEAK stacks based on parrot any time soon, but I think it will be a gradual evolution both of tools and questions. In the end only experience will tell how far our interest, expertise and tolerance goes.

    Perl 6 - links to (nearly) everything that is Perl 6.
      Very Correct, We must not treat Perl 6 with step motherly attitude, And one of the ways to keep a check on the FUD is to have Perl 6 discussions regularly on Forums like this.

      The thing for me is that Perl 5 has been this sites primary focus for 10 years. 10 years is a lot of questions. After a certain point there has to be a tail-off of new and interesting questions.

      Allowing Perl 6 questions to be added I believe the community can continue to be interested in contributing. If it is limited to Perl 5 only I would think the site would eventually wither and die.

        Somehow this brings to mind the following quote ..

          Everything that can be invented has been invented. -- Charles H. Duell, Commissioner, US Patent Office, 1899

        .. Commissioner Duell urging the closure of the Patent Office. So, your comment

          After a certain point there has to be a tail-off of new and interesting questions.

        has the same ring to it. I think there are still new and interesting questions being asked. After all, Perl 5.12 has just been released with a boatload of changes, and there are CPAN updates arriving every day.

        In my opinion, there's still plenty to talk about, and the imminent arrival of Perl 6 (I've been hearing a Christmas delivery date .. for a couple of years) will just add a new topic of discussion.

        I agree that when Perl 6 arrives, there are going to be plenty of people dealing with legacy (heh) Perl 5 while some folks will be able to zoom right into Perl 6. And we're all one big community -- why separate Perl 5 from Perl 6?

        I'm reminded of a Star Trek episode with guest star Frank Gorshin, the one where he's black and white, chasing after a guy who's white and black. But I digress.

        Traffic's only going to increase with the release of Perl 6. And that's going to be a good thing. :)

        Alex / talexb / Toronto

        "Groklaw is the open-source mentality applied to legal research" ~ Linus Torvalds

Re: What is the scope of Perl Monks?
by almut (Canon) on Apr 27, 2010 at 17:42 UTC

    IMHO, it would be ok to post such questions here. In case it should get out of hands one day (volume-wise), we can still start thinking about creating new sections...  Also, people can always prefix their subject line with something like [Rakudo] to avoid confusion.

      Given that many questions appear to be from folks still stuck on 5.8 (or 5.10), one might expand on almut's thought about labeling: label not just language, but also version, e.g., HoH error messages [ Rakudo 0.21 ] or Unexpected match (non-greedy) [ 5.8.8 ] perhaps?

      Rationale: the answers which offer a (pick a vers) solution only to receive a counter-answer to the general effect of 'but I can't do that; I'm running (some other vers).

        Rakudo 0.21 ] or Unexpected match (non-greedy) [ 5.8.8 ] perhaps?
        That could work well. I can just picture it....

        URgenT hElp pLZ!!! [5.8.8]

        *grin*