perlcommunity − a brief overview of the Perl community
This document aims to provide an overview of the vast perl community, which is far too large and diverse to provide a detailed listing. If any specific niche has been forgotten, it is not meant as an insult but an omission for the sake of brevity.
The Perl community is as diverse as Perl, and there is a large amount of evidence that the Perl users apply TMTOWTDI to all endeavors, not just programming. From websites, to IRC , to mailing lists, there is more than one way to get involved in the community.
Where to
Find the Community
There is a central directory for the Perl community:
<http://perl.org> maintained by the Perl Foundation
(<http://www.perlfoundation.org/>), which tracks and
provides services for a variety of other community
sites.
Mailing
Lists and Newsgroups
Perl runs on e−mail; there is no doubt about it. The
Camel book was originally written mostly over e−mail
and today Perl’s development is co-ordinated through
mailing lists. The largest repository of Perl mailing lists
is located at <http://lists.perl.org>.
Most Perl-related projects set up mailing lists for both users and contributors. If you don’t see a certain project listed at <http://lists.perl.org>, check the particular website for that project. Most mailing lists are archived at <http://nntp.perl.org/>.
There are also plenty of Perl related newsgroups located under "comp.lang.perl.*".
IRC
The Perl community has a rather large IRC
presence. For starters, it has its own IRC
network, <irc://irc.perl.org>. General (not
help-oriented) chat can be found at
<irc://irc.perl.org/#perl>. Many other more specific
chats are also hosted on the network. Information about
irc.perl.org is located on the network’s website:
<http://www.irc.perl.org>. For a more help-oriented
#perl, check out <irc://irc.freenode.net/#perl>. Perl
6 development also has a presence in
<irc://irc.freenode.net/#perl6>. Most Perl-related
channels will be kind enough to point you in the right
direction if you ask nicely.
Any large IRC network (Dalnet, EFnet) is also likely to have a #perl channel, with varying activity levels.
Websites
Perl websites come in a variety of forms, but they fit into
two large categories: forums and news websites. There are
many Perl-related websites, so only a few of the
community’s largest are mentioned here.
News
sites
<http://perl.com/>
Run by O’Reilly Media (the publisher of the Camel Book, among other Perl-related literature), perl.com provides current Perl news, articles, and resources for Perl developers as well as a directory of other useful websites.
<http://use.perl.org/>
use Perl; provides a slashdot-style Perl news website covering all things Perl, from minutes of the meetings of the Perl 6 Design team to conference announcements with (ir)relevant discussion.
Forums
<http://www.perlmonks.org/>
PerlMonks is one of the largest Perl forums, and describes itself as "A place for individuals to polish, improve, and showcase their Perl skills." and "A community which allows everyone to grow and learn from each other."
User
Groups
Many cities around the world have local Perl Mongers
chapters. A Perl Mongers chapter is a local user group which
typically holds regular in-person meetings, both social and
technical; helps organize local conferences, workshops, and
hackathons; and provides a mailing list or other continual
contact method for its members to keep in touch.
To find your local Perl Mongers (or PM as they’re commonly abbreviated) group check the international Perl Mongers directory at <http://www.pm.org/>.
Workshops
Perl workshops are, as the name might suggest, workshops
where Perl is taught in a variety of ways. At the workshops,
subjects range from a beginner’s introduction (such as
the Pittsburgh Perl Workshop’s "Zero To
Perl") to much more advanced subjects.
There are several great resources for locating workshops: the websites mentioned above, the calendar mentioned below, and the YAPC Europe website, <http://www.yapceurope.org/>, which is probably the best resource for European Perl events.
Hackathons
Hackathons are a very different kind of gathering where Perl
hackers gather to do just that, hack nonstop for an extended
(several day) period on a specific project or projects.
Information about hackathons can be located in the same
place as information about workshops as well as in
<irc://irc.perl.org/#perl>.
If you have never been to a hackathon, here are a few basic things you need to know before attending: have a working laptop and know how to use it; check out the involved projects beforehand; have the necessary version control client; and bring backup equipment (an extra LAN cable, additional power strips, etc.) because someone will forget.
Conventions
Perl has two major annual conventions: The Perl Conference
(now part of OSCON ), put on by
O’Reilly, and Yet Another Perl Conference or
YAPC (pronounced yap-see), which is localized
into several regional YAPCs (North America, Europe, Asia) in
a stunning grassroots display by the Perl community. For
more information about either conference, check out their
respective web pages: OSCON
<http://conferences.oreillynet.com/>;
YAPC <http://www.yapc.org>.
A relatively new conference franchise with a large Perl portion is the Open Source Developers Conference or OSDC . First held in Australia it has recently also spread to Israel and France. More information can be found at: <http://www.osdc.com.au/> for Australia, <http://www.osdc.org.il> for Israel, and <http://www.osdc.fr/> for France.
Calendar of
Perl Events
The Perl Review, <http://www.theperlreview.com>
maintains a website and Google calendar
(<http://www.theperlreview.com/community_calendar>)
for tracking workshops, hackathons, Perl Mongers meetings,
and other events. Views of this calendar are at
<http://www.perl.org/events.html> and
<http://www.yapc.org>.
Not every event or Perl Mongers group is on that calendar, so don’t lose heart if you don’t see yours posted. To have your event or group listed, contact brian d foy (brian@theperlreview.com).
Edgar "Trizor" Bering <trizor@gmail.com>