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1 | =head1 NAME |
2 | ||
3 | perlcommunity - a brief overview of the Perl community | |
4 | ||
5 | =head1 DESCRIPTION | |
6 | ||
7 | This document aims to provide an overview of the vast perl community, which is | |
8 | far too large and diverse to provide a detailed listing. If any specific niche | |
9 | has been forgotten, it is not meant as an insult but an omission for the sake | |
10 | of brevity. | |
11 | ||
12 | The Perl community is as diverse as Perl, and there is a large amount of | |
13 | evidence that the Perl users apply TMTOWTDI to all endeavors, not just | |
14 | programming. From websites, to IRC, to mailing lists, there is more than one | |
15 | way to get involved in the community. | |
16 | ||
167dbc9f | 17 | =head2 Where to Find the Community |
cbd87e7e | 18 | |
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19 | There is a central directory for the Perl community: L<https://perl.org> |
20 | maintained by the Perl Foundation (L<https://www.perlfoundation.org/>), | |
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21 | which tracks and provides services for a variety of other community sites. |
22 | ||
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23 | =head3 Raku |
24 | ||
25 | Perl's sister language, Raku (formerly known as Perl 6), maintains its own | |
26 | directory of community resources at L<https://raku.org/community/>. | |
27 | ||
167dbc9f | 28 | =head2 Mailing Lists and Newsgroups |
cbd87e7e | 29 | |
5691d108 | 30 | Perl runs on e-mail; there is no doubt about it. The Camel book was originally |
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31 | written mostly over e-mail and today Perl's development is co-ordinated through |
32 | mailing lists. The largest repository of Perl mailing lists is located at | |
17cc1736 | 33 | L<https://lists.perl.org>. |
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34 | |
35 | Most Perl-related projects set up mailing lists for both users and | |
36 | contributors. If you don't see a certain project listed at | |
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37 | L<https://lists.perl.org>, check the particular website for that project. |
38 | Most mailing lists are archived at L<https://www.nntp.perl.org/>. | |
cbd87e7e | 39 | |
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40 | =head2 IRC |
41 | ||
42 | The Perl community has a rather large IRC presence. For starters, it has its | |
43 | own IRC network, L<irc://irc.perl.org>. General (not help-oriented) chat can be | |
44 | found at L<irc://irc.perl.org/#perl>. Many other more specific chats are also | |
45 | hosted on the network. Information about irc.perl.org is located on the | |
17cc1736 | 46 | network's website: L<https://www.irc.perl.org>. For a more help-oriented #perl, |
f63c7598 DB |
47 | check out L<irc://irc.libera.chat/#perl> |
48 | (L<webchat|https://web.libera.chat/#perl>). Most Perl-related channels | |
17b35041 | 49 | will be kind enough to point you in the right direction if you ask nicely. |
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50 | |
51 | Any large IRC network (Dalnet, EFnet) is also likely to have a #perl channel, | |
52 | with varying activity levels. | |
53 | ||
54 | =head2 Websites | |
55 | ||
56 | Perl websites come in a variety of forms, but they fit into two large | |
5691d108 | 57 | categories: forums and news websites. There are many Perl-related |
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58 | websites, so only a few of the community's largest are mentioned here. |
59 | ||
60 | =head3 News sites | |
61 | ||
62 | =over 4 | |
63 | ||
17cc1736 | 64 | =item L<https://perl.com/> |
cbd87e7e | 65 | |
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66 | Originally run by O'Reilly Media (the publisher of L<the Camel Book|perlbook>, |
67 | this site provides quality articles mostly about technical details of Perl. | |
cbd87e7e | 68 | |
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69 | =item L<http://blogs.perl.org/> |
70 | ||
71 | Many members of the community have a Perl-related blog on this site. If | |
72 | you'd like to join them, you can sign up for free. | |
73 | ||
77762afc | 74 | =item L<https://perl.theplanetarium.org/> |
4e9736a3 | 75 | |
c52cd300 | 76 | Planet Perl is one of several aggregators of Perl-related blog feeds. |
4e9736a3 | 77 | |
c52cd300 | 78 | =item L<https://perlweekly.com/> |
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79 | |
80 | Perl Weekly is a weekly mailing list that keeps you up to date on conferences, | |
81 | releases and notable blog posts. | |
82 | ||
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83 | =back |
84 | ||
85 | =head3 Forums | |
86 | ||
87 | =over 4 | |
88 | ||
17cc1736 | 89 | =item L<https://www.perlmonks.org/> |
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90 | |
91 | PerlMonks is one of the largest Perl forums, and describes itself as "A place | |
92 | for individuals to polish, improve, and showcase their Perl skills." and "A | |
93 | community which allows everyone to grow and learn from each other." | |
94 | ||
17cc1736 | 95 | =item L<https://stackoverflow.com/> |
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96 | |
97 | Stack Overflow is a free question-and-answer site for programmers. It's not | |
98 | focussed solely on Perl, but it does have an active group of users who do | |
99 | their best to help people with their Perl programming questions. | |
100 | ||
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101 | =item L<http://prepan.org/> |
102 | ||
103 | PrePAN is used as a place to discuss modules that you're considering uploading | |
104 | to the CPAN. You can get feedback on their design before you upload. | |
105 | ||
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106 | =back |
107 | ||
108 | =head2 User Groups | |
109 | ||
10a3d64e | 110 | Many cities around the world have local Perl Mongers chapters. A Perl Mongers |
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111 | chapter is a local user group which typically holds regular in-person meetings, |
112 | both social and technical; helps organize local conferences, workshops, and | |
113 | hackathons; and provides a mailing list or other continual contact method for | |
114 | its members to keep in touch. | |
115 | ||
10a3d64e | 116 | To find your local Perl Mongers (or PM as they're commonly abbreviated) group |
17cc1736 | 117 | check the international Perl Mongers directory at L<https://www.pm.org/>. |
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118 | |
119 | =head2 Workshops | |
120 | ||
121 | Perl workshops are, as the name might suggest, workshops where Perl is taught | |
122 | in a variety of ways. At the workshops, subjects range from a beginner's | |
123 | introduction (such as the Pittsburgh Perl Workshop's "Zero To Perl") to much | |
124 | more advanced subjects. | |
125 | ||
126 | There are several great resources for locating workshops: the | |
127 | L<websites|"Websites"> mentioned above, the | |
128 | L<calendar|"Calendar of Perl Events"> mentioned below, and the YAPC Europe | |
129 | website, L<http://www.yapceurope.org/>, which is probably the best resource for | |
130 | European Perl events. | |
131 | ||
132 | =head2 Hackathons | |
133 | ||
134 | Hackathons are a very different kind of gathering where Perl hackers gather to | |
135 | do just that, hack nonstop for an extended (several day) period on a specific | |
136 | project or projects. Information about hackathons can be located in the same | |
137 | place as information about L<workshops|"Workshops"> as well as in | |
138 | L<irc://irc.perl.org/#perl>. | |
139 | ||
140 | If you have never been to a hackathon, here are a few basic things you need to | |
141 | know before attending: have a working laptop and know how to use it; check out | |
5691d108 | 142 | the involved projects beforehand; have the necessary version control client; |
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143 | and bring backup equipment (an extra LAN cable, additional power strips, etc.) |
144 | because someone will forget. | |
145 | ||
146 | =head2 Conventions | |
147 | ||
997e0586 | 148 | Perl had two major annual conventions: The Perl Conference (now part of OSCON), |
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149 | put on by O'Reilly, and Yet Another Perl Conference or YAPC (pronounced |
150 | yap-see), which is localized into several regional YAPCs (North America, | |
727c4789 | 151 | Europe, Asia) in a stunning grassroots display by the Perl community. |
cbd87e7e | 152 | |
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153 | In 2016, YAPC was rebranded as The Perl Conference again. It is now referred |
154 | to as The Perl and Raku Conference. | |
155 | ||
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156 | OSCON had been discontinued. |
157 | ||
158 | For more information about either conference, check out their respective web | |
159 | pages: | |
160 | ||
161 | =over 4 | |
162 | ||
163 | =item * The Perl Conference | |
164 | ||
165 | L<http://perlconference.us/>. | |
166 | ||
167 | =item * OSCON | |
168 | ||
169 | L<https://www.oreilly.com/conferences/> | |
170 | ||
171 | =back | |
172 | ||
173 | An additional conference franchise with a large Perl portion was the | |
174 | Open Source Developers Conference or OSDC. First held in Australia, it | |
175 | also spread to Israel and France. More information can be found at: | |
17cc1736 | 176 | L<http://www.osdc.org.il> for Israel, and L<http://www.osdc.fr/> for France. |
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177 | |
178 | =head2 Calendar of Perl Events | |
179 | ||
10a3d64e | 180 | The Perl Review, L<http://www.theperlreview.com> maintains a website |
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181 | and Google calendar for tracking |
182 | workshops, hackathons, Perl Mongers meetings, and other events. A view | |
183 | of this calendar is available at L<https://www.perl.org/events.html>. | |
10a3d64e | 184 | |
185 | Not every event or Perl Mongers group is on that calendar, so don't lose | |
186 | heart if you don't see yours posted. To have your event or group listed, | |
187 | contact brian d foy (brian@theperlreview.com). | |
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188 | |
189 | =head1 AUTHOR | |
190 | ||
191 | Edgar "Trizor" Bering <trizor@gmail.com> | |
192 | ||
193 | =cut |