http://www.perlmonks.org?node_id=485632


in reply to How much Perl6 have we got?

In the beginning, there was a joke. A joke that said that Perl and Python would merge in a new language called Parrot.

And then come the idea of Perl6, and the name Parrot was given to a new virtual machine on which Perl6 will run.

You have that slightly out of order. The announcement of Perl 6 was in July 2000. Simon Cozens' Parrot joke was April 1st 2001. Here's Simon's article about the joke.

--
<http://dave.org.uk>

"The first rule of Perl club is you do not talk about Perl club."
-- Chip Salzenberg

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Re^2: How much Perl6 have we got?
by stu42j (Sexton) on Aug 23, 2005 at 15:22 UTC
    So, did the joke inspire the real Parrot or was the idea of a multi-language virtual machine already being worked on?
[reply]

      I don't think the joke made people think "actually, that's want we really need for Perl 6". But once someone came up with the idea of multi-language virtual machine it didn't take long for someone to remember the joke and realise that the VM had to be called Parrot.

      --
      <http://dave.org.uk>

      "The first rule of Perl club is you do not talk about Perl club."
      -- Chip Salzenberg

[reply]

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