A Mountain of Perl Books + Python Advocacy

[Tim Peters]

[lewst]
> ...
> What is it about Perl that makes it so much more popular and have such
> a huge grassroots swell?

1. It was in the right place at the right time twice (first as an eagerly
   embraced alternative to mounds of half-assed incompatible Unix tools
   pushed beyond their limits; and second, where it got its major growth,
   from legions of new CGI programmers (or "script kiddies", as they're
   derisively called over on c.l.p.m.)).

2. Larry and Perl's early adopters are unarguably better salespeople
   than Guido and Python's early adopters.

> ...
> Perl is very publicized and well-known while the better language is
> sitting here a dark corner unnoticed.

I don't grant that Python is unnoticed; to the contrary, its growth curve is
still exponential.  To the extent that it is true, though, the same has been
true of the Lisp family for decades -- this isn't a new phenomenon in
computer languages.  But unlike Lisp, Python hasn't splintered, so its
chances are still good.  Four years ago I wondered whether it would survive,
but no longer -- it's reached critical mass since then.

> Sure there will always be some religious fanatics that won't even give
> Python a try, but I think Python's popularity could be vastly improved
> with some serious advocacy work.  CNRI and/or PSA should seriously
> look into funding a Python "marketing" campaign of sorts.  I think the
> result would be allot of converts and more understanding and respect
> for Python.

Python *is* astonishing for the tiny number of evangelists it's attracted!
We sucked in Eric Raymond, for but for some reason he doesn't seem to
consider promoting Python to be his Primary Mission from God -- the best
hope for a PSA marketing campaign may be to hire a deprogrammer to
straighten out Tom Christiansen's brain while there's still something left
<wink>.

not-mentioning-that-perl-is-a-better-language-for-some-tasks-and-
    that-tells-you-how-effective-an-advocate-i-am-ly y'rs  - tim