Look at scripts from a viewpoint of purpose instead of method.

Programs are general solutions to significant tasks; scripts are more localized, more personal, more transient.

Of course, that doesn't last long, either. The scripts used by the system administrators of an enterprise involving tens of thousands of machines and hundreds of thousands of user accounts may be more involved than other peope's operating systems.

But Perl did set out to solve those transient requirements: Extracting, and Reporting. As time passed, it took on more and more important and long-term tasks.

Being the duct tape that holds together the Internet is a mighty important task .... but Perl would not be good at that if it weren't for the scripting aspects of its heritage. Consider other languages which have attempted to take over the role of holding together the internet, which made a point of being a real^&tm; programming language ...