Re: [PATCH] doc: add technical/whyperl

[Eric Wong <e@yhbt.net>]

Leah Neukirchen <leah@vuxu.org> wrote:

Did you forget reply-all?  Re-adding Cc: meta@public-inbox.org
since you've already posted there in the past.

> Eric Wong <e@yhbt.net> writes:
> 
> > Some people don't like Perl; but it exists, there's no
> > avoiding it with everything that depends on it.  And
> > nearly all code still works unmodified after 20 years.
> 
> > +  Furthermore, Perl documentation is typically installed as
> > +  manpages, allowing users to quickly access and learn it
> > +  offline.
> 
> I absolutely don't mind using Perl, but I cannot say this is true.
> I tried to learn Perl from the man pages, and things got sooo much
> clearer once I picked up the Camel book.  The man pages are good for
> reference, but not for learning from scratch.

Interesting, thanks for the comment.  I'll reword it, how about:

	Furthermore, Perl documentation is typically installed
	locally as manpages, allowing users to quickly refer
	to documentation as needed.

?

Fwiw, I guess my own learning experiences are atypical.  I've
never picked up a book on Perl or any language/skill I'm
familiar with.  Mainly source diving, manpages, lurking on
mailing lists, archives, newsgroups, etc. along with lots of
trial-and-error.

It's all very scattered (like my brain :x), and I suppose it's
reflected in how public-inbox works and gets developed;
including my aversion to centralization and unnecessary
structure in things such as trackers with labels/priorities.