Re: PerlMonks for newbies?

[Your Mother]

Agree with the above, especially mr_mischief's sentiment of great way to think, bad idea in this case. Taking the beginners out of here would be messing with a healthy ecosystem. When a big part of an ecosystem is excised from the bottom or even a small part from the top (apex predators for example; losing just one of BrowserUK, tye, or ikegami would change the timbre of the whole place) there are invariably unexpected, usually unwanted, results.

[missingthepoint]

I agree that 'messing with a healthy ecosystem' is bad (I, for one, find the posts of those three incredibly informative and helpful). However, what of people who aren't part of the ecosystem? I'm sure there are people out there who, for reasons Andy Lester outlined, find Perlmonks too intimidating / complex / archaic looking / whatever, and consequently go elsewhere or even chuck Perl and learn Ruby. Perhaps another, separate offering of the sort cosmicperl is describing could benefit people outside the Perlmonks community who would not otherwise benefit?

[Your Mother]

You actually come close to making a sale. Ecosystems only get interesting and diverse through pressures which can include competition.

I suppose ultimately I see it as Perl Monks is great but Perl Monks is not well enough known or used or recommended. I'd rather see some evangelism for this site than a new site. I confess, however, that a new site done right might be good for Perl.

[missingthepoint]

I too would love to see PerlMonks promoted more. It's a ridiculously valuable resource. I remember you said in one node 'stick around, I owe a good slice of the dev chops I do have to this place'. I'm almost certainly junior to you in 'dev chops', but I can see how one can improve lots by spending time here.

So, I want PerlMonks to thrive as much as you do. It probably should have more evangelism. :)