[perl5.git] / pod / perlcommunity.pod

=head1 NAME

perlcommunity - a brief overview of the Perl community

=head1 DESCRIPTION

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.

=head2 Where to find the community

There is a central directory for the Perl community: L<http://perl.org>
maintained by the Perl Foundation (L<http://www.perlfoundation.org/>),
which tracks and provides services for a variety of other community sites.

=head2 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
L<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
L<http://lists.perl.org>, check the particular website for that project.
Most mailing lists are archived at L<http://nntp.perl.org/>.

There are also plenty of Perl related newsgroups located under
C<comp.lang.perl.*>.

=head2 IRC

The Perl community has a rather large IRC presence. For starters, it has its
own IRC network, L<irc://irc.perl.org>. General (not help-oriented) chat can be
found at L<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: L<http://www.irc.perl.org>. For a more help oriented #perl,
check out L<irc://irc.freenode.net/#perl>. Perl 6 development also has a
presence in L<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.

=head2 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.

=head3 News sites

=over 4

=item L<http://perl.com/>

Run by O'Reilly Media (The publisher of L<the Camel Book|perlbook> 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.

=item L<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.

=back

=head3 Forums

=over 4

=item L<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."

=back

=head2 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 L<http://www.pm.org/>.

=head2 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
L<websites|"Websites"> mentioned above, the
L<calendar|"Calendar of Perl Events"> mentioned below, and the YAPC Europe
website, L<http://www.yapceurope.org/>, which is probably the best resource for
European Perl events.

=head2 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 L<workshops|"Workshops"> as well as in
L<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 before hand; have the necessary version control client;
and bring backup equipment (an extra LAN cable, additional power strips, etc.)
because someone will forget.

=head2 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 L<http://conferences.oreillynet.com/>; YAPC L<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:
L<http://www.osdc.com.au/> for Australia, L<http://www.osdc.org.il>
for Israel, and L<http://www.osdc.fr/> for France.

=head2 Calendar of Perl Events

The Perl Review, L<http://www.theperlreview.com> maintains a website
and Google calendar
(L<http://www.theperlreview.com/community_calendar>) for tracking
workshops, hackathons, Perl Mongers meetings, and other events. Views
of this calendar are at L<http://www.perl.org/events.html> and
L<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).

=head1 AUTHOR

Edgar "Trizor" Bering <trizor@gmail.com>

=cut
Commit	Line	Data
cbd87e7e EB	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
	17	=head2 Where to find the community
	18
	19	There is a central directory for the Perl community: L<http://perl.org>
	20	maintained by the Perl Foundation (L<http://www.perlfoundation.org/>),
	21	which tracks and provides services for a variety of other community sites.
	22
	23	=head2 Mailing lists and Newsgroups
	24
	25	Perl runs on e-mail, there is no doubt about it. The Camel book was originally
	26	written mostly over e-mail and today Perl's development is co-ordinated through
	27	mailing lists. The largest repository of Perl mailing lists is located at
	28	L<http://lists.perl.org>.
	29
	30	Most Perl-related projects set up mailing lists for both users and
	31	contributors. If you don't see a certain project listed at
	32	L<http://lists.perl.org>, check the particular website for that project.
	33	Most mailing lists are archived at L<http://nntp.perl.org/>.
	34
	35	There are also plenty of Perl related newsgroups located under
	36	C<comp.lang.perl.*>.
	37
	38	=head2 IRC
	39
	40	The Perl community has a rather large IRC presence. For starters, it has its
	41	own IRC network, L<irc://irc.perl.org>. General (not help-oriented) chat can be
	42	found at L<irc://irc.perl.org/#perl>. Many other more specific chats are also
	43	hosted on the network. Information about irc.perl.org is located on the
	44	network's website: L<http://www.irc.perl.org>. For a more help oriented #perl,
241e7389	45	check out L<irc://irc.freenode.net/#perl>. Perl 6 development also has a
cbd87e7e EB	46	presence in L<irc://irc.freenode.net/#perl6>. Most Perl-related channels will
	47	be kind enough to point you in the right direction if you ask nicely.
	48
	49	Any large IRC network (Dalnet, EFnet) is also likely to have a #perl channel,
	50	with varying activity levels.
	51
	52	=head2 Websites
	53
	54	Perl websites come in a variety of forms, but they fit into two large
	55	categories: forums and news websites. There are many Perl related
	56	websites, so only a few of the community's largest are mentioned here.
	57
	58	=head3 News sites
	59
	60	=over 4
	61
	62	=item L<http://perl.com/>
	63
	64	Run by O'Reilly Media (The publisher of L<the Camel Book\|perlbook> among other
	65	Perl-related literature), perl.com provides current Perl news, articles, and
	66	resources for Perl developers as well as a directory of other useful websites.
	67
	68	=item L<http://use.perl.org/>
	69
	70	use Perl; provides a slashdot-style Perl news website covering all things Perl,
241e7389	71	from minutes of the meetings of the Perl 6 Design team to conference
cbd87e7e EB	72	announcements with (ir)relevant discussion.
	73
	74	=back
	75
	76	=head3 Forums
	77
	78	=over 4
	79
	80	=item L<http://www.perlmonks.org/>
	81
	82	PerlMonks is one of the largest Perl forums, and describes itself as "A place
	83	for individuals to polish, improve, and showcase their Perl skills." and "A
	84	community which allows everyone to grow and learn from each other."
	85
	86	=back
	87
	88	=head2 User Groups
	89
10a3d64e	90	Many cities around the world have local Perl Mongers chapters. A Perl Mongers
cbd87e7e EB	91	chapter is a local user group which typically holds regular in-person meetings,
	92	both social and technical; helps organize local conferences, workshops, and
	93	hackathons; and provides a mailing list or other continual contact method for
	94	its members to keep in touch.
	95
10a3d64e	96	To find your local Perl Mongers (or PM as they're commonly abbreviated) group
10a3d64e	97	check the international Perl Mongers directory at L<http://www.pm.org/>.
cbd87e7e EB	98
	99	=head2 Workshops
	100
	101	Perl workshops are, as the name might suggest, workshops where Perl is taught
	102	in a variety of ways. At the workshops, subjects range from a beginner's
	103	introduction (such as the Pittsburgh Perl Workshop's "Zero To Perl") to much
	104	more advanced subjects.
	105
	106	There are several great resources for locating workshops: the
	107	L<websites\|"Websites"> mentioned above, the
	108	L<calendar\|"Calendar of Perl Events"> mentioned below, and the YAPC Europe
	109	website, L<http://www.yapceurope.org/>, which is probably the best resource for
	110	European Perl events.
	111
	112	=head2 Hackathons
	113
	114	Hackathons are a very different kind of gathering where Perl hackers gather to
	115	do just that, hack nonstop for an extended (several day) period on a specific
	116	project or projects. Information about hackathons can be located in the same
	117	place as information about L<workshops\|"Workshops"> as well as in
	118	L<irc://irc.perl.org/#perl>.
	119
	120	If you have never been to a hackathon, here are a few basic things you need to
	121	know before attending: have a working laptop and know how to use it; check out
	122	the involved projects before hand; have the necessary version control client;
	123	and bring backup equipment (an extra LAN cable, additional power strips, etc.)
	124	because someone will forget.
	125
	126	=head2 Conventions
	127
	128	Perl has two major annual conventions: The Perl Conference (now part of OSCON),
	129	put on by O'Reilly, and Yet Another Perl Conference or YAPC (pronounced
	130	yap-see), which is localized into several regional YAPCs (North America,
	131	Europe, Asia) in a stunning grassroots display by the Perl community. For more
	132	information about either conference, check out their respective web pages:
	133	OSCON L<http://conferences.oreillynet.com/>; YAPC L<http://www.yapc.org>.
	134
80983d21	135	A relatively new conference franchise with a large Perl portion is the
cbd87e7e	136	Open Source Developers Conference or OSDC. First held in Australia it has
4ff31b78 PBB	137	recently also spread to Israel and France. More information can be found at:
	138	L<http://www.osdc.com.au/> for Australia, L<http://www.osdc.org.il>
	139	for Israel, and L<http://www.osdc.fr/> for France.
cbd87e7e EB	140
	141	=head2 Calendar of Perl Events
	142
10a3d64e	143	The Perl Review, L<http://www.theperlreview.com> maintains a website
	144	and Google calendar
	145	(L<http://www.theperlreview.com/community_calendar>) for tracking
	146	workshops, hackathons, Perl Mongers meetings, and other events. Views
	147	of this calendar are at L<http://www.perl.org/events.html> and
	148	L<http://www.yapc.org>.
	149
	150	Not every event or Perl Mongers group is on that calendar, so don't lose
	151	heart if you don't see yours posted. To have your event or group listed,
	152	contact brian d foy (brian@theperlreview.com).
cbd87e7e EB	153
	154	=head1 AUTHOR
	155
	156	Edgar "Trizor" Bering <trizor@gmail.com>
	157
	158	=cut