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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 |
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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 | ||
167dbc9f | 23 | =head2 Mailing Lists and Newsgroups |
cbd87e7e | 24 | |
5691d108 | 25 | Perl runs on e-mail; there is no doubt about it. The Camel book was originally |
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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 | ||
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35 | =head2 IRC |
36 | ||
37 | The Perl community has a rather large IRC presence. For starters, it has its | |
38 | own IRC network, L<irc://irc.perl.org>. General (not help-oriented) chat can be | |
39 | found at L<irc://irc.perl.org/#perl>. Many other more specific chats are also | |
40 | hosted on the network. Information about irc.perl.org is located on the | |
5691d108 | 41 | network's website: L<http://www.irc.perl.org>. For a more help-oriented #perl, |
241e7389 | 42 | check out L<irc://irc.freenode.net/#perl>. Perl 6 development also has a |
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43 | presence in L<irc://irc.freenode.net/#perl6>. Most Perl-related channels will |
44 | be kind enough to point you in the right direction if you ask nicely. | |
45 | ||
46 | Any large IRC network (Dalnet, EFnet) is also likely to have a #perl channel, | |
47 | with varying activity levels. | |
48 | ||
49 | =head2 Websites | |
50 | ||
51 | Perl websites come in a variety of forms, but they fit into two large | |
5691d108 | 52 | categories: forums and news websites. There are many Perl-related |
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53 | websites, so only a few of the community's largest are mentioned here. |
54 | ||
55 | =head3 News sites | |
56 | ||
57 | =over 4 | |
58 | ||
59 | =item L<http://perl.com/> | |
60 | ||
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61 | Originally run by O'Reilly Media (the publisher of L<the Camel Book|perlbook>, |
62 | this site provides quality articles mostly about technical details of Perl. | |
cbd87e7e | 63 | |
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64 | =item L<http://blogs.perl.org/> |
65 | ||
66 | Many members of the community have a Perl-related blog on this site. If | |
67 | you'd like to join them, you can sign up for free. | |
68 | ||
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69 | =item L<http://perlsphere.net/> |
70 | ||
71 | Perlsphere is one of several aggregators of Perl-related blog feeds. | |
72 | ||
73 | =item L<http://perlweekly.com/> | |
74 | ||
75 | Perl Weekly is a weekly mailing list that keeps you up to date on conferences, | |
76 | releases and notable blog posts. | |
77 | ||
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78 | =item L<http://use.perl.org/> |
79 | ||
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80 | use Perl; used to provide a slashdot-style news/blog website covering all |
81 | things Perl, from minutes of the meetings of the Perl 6 Design team to | |
82 | conference announcements with (ir)relevant discussion. It no longer accepts | |
83 | updates, but you can still use the site to read old entries and comments. | |
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84 | |
85 | =back | |
86 | ||
87 | =head3 Forums | |
88 | ||
89 | =over 4 | |
90 | ||
91 | =item L<http://www.perlmonks.org/> | |
92 | ||
93 | PerlMonks is one of the largest Perl forums, and describes itself as "A place | |
94 | for individuals to polish, improve, and showcase their Perl skills." and "A | |
95 | community which allows everyone to grow and learn from each other." | |
96 | ||
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97 | =item L<http://stackoverflow.com/> |
98 | ||
99 | Stack Overflow is a free question-and-answer site for programmers. It's not | |
100 | focussed solely on Perl, but it does have an active group of users who do | |
101 | their best to help people with their Perl programming questions. | |
102 | ||
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103 | =item L<http://prepan.org/> |
104 | ||
105 | PrePAN is used as a place to discuss modules that you're considering uploading | |
106 | to the CPAN. You can get feedback on their design before you upload. | |
107 | ||
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108 | =back |
109 | ||
110 | =head2 User Groups | |
111 | ||
10a3d64e | 112 | Many cities around the world have local Perl Mongers chapters. A Perl Mongers |
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113 | chapter is a local user group which typically holds regular in-person meetings, |
114 | both social and technical; helps organize local conferences, workshops, and | |
115 | hackathons; and provides a mailing list or other continual contact method for | |
116 | its members to keep in touch. | |
117 | ||
10a3d64e | 118 | To find your local Perl Mongers (or PM as they're commonly abbreviated) group |
119 | check the international Perl Mongers directory at L<http://www.pm.org/>. | |
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120 | |
121 | =head2 Workshops | |
122 | ||
123 | Perl workshops are, as the name might suggest, workshops where Perl is taught | |
124 | in a variety of ways. At the workshops, subjects range from a beginner's | |
125 | introduction (such as the Pittsburgh Perl Workshop's "Zero To Perl") to much | |
126 | more advanced subjects. | |
127 | ||
128 | There are several great resources for locating workshops: the | |
129 | L<websites|"Websites"> mentioned above, the | |
130 | L<calendar|"Calendar of Perl Events"> mentioned below, and the YAPC Europe | |
131 | website, L<http://www.yapceurope.org/>, which is probably the best resource for | |
132 | European Perl events. | |
133 | ||
134 | =head2 Hackathons | |
135 | ||
136 | Hackathons are a very different kind of gathering where Perl hackers gather to | |
137 | do just that, hack nonstop for an extended (several day) period on a specific | |
138 | project or projects. Information about hackathons can be located in the same | |
139 | place as information about L<workshops|"Workshops"> as well as in | |
140 | L<irc://irc.perl.org/#perl>. | |
141 | ||
142 | If you have never been to a hackathon, here are a few basic things you need to | |
143 | know before attending: have a working laptop and know how to use it; check out | |
5691d108 | 144 | the involved projects beforehand; have the necessary version control client; |
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145 | and bring backup equipment (an extra LAN cable, additional power strips, etc.) |
146 | because someone will forget. | |
147 | ||
148 | =head2 Conventions | |
149 | ||
150 | Perl has two major annual conventions: The Perl Conference (now part of OSCON), | |
151 | put on by O'Reilly, and Yet Another Perl Conference or YAPC (pronounced | |
152 | yap-see), which is localized into several regional YAPCs (North America, | |
153 | Europe, Asia) in a stunning grassroots display by the Perl community. For more | |
154 | information about either conference, check out their respective web pages: | |
155 | OSCON L<http://conferences.oreillynet.com/>; YAPC L<http://www.yapc.org>. | |
156 | ||
80983d21 | 157 | A relatively new conference franchise with a large Perl portion is the |
cbd87e7e | 158 | Open Source Developers Conference or OSDC. First held in Australia it has |
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159 | recently also spread to Israel and France. More information can be found at: |
160 | L<http://www.osdc.com.au/> for Australia, L<http://www.osdc.org.il> | |
161 | for Israel, and L<http://www.osdc.fr/> for France. | |
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162 | |
163 | =head2 Calendar of Perl Events | |
164 | ||
10a3d64e | 165 | The Perl Review, L<http://www.theperlreview.com> maintains a website |
166 | and Google calendar | |
167 | (L<http://www.theperlreview.com/community_calendar>) for tracking | |
168 | workshops, hackathons, Perl Mongers meetings, and other events. Views | |
169 | of this calendar are at L<http://www.perl.org/events.html> and | |
170 | L<http://www.yapc.org>. | |
171 | ||
172 | Not every event or Perl Mongers group is on that calendar, so don't lose | |
173 | heart if you don't see yours posted. To have your event or group listed, | |
174 | contact brian d foy (brian@theperlreview.com). | |
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175 | |
176 | =head1 AUTHOR | |
177 | ||
178 | Edgar "Trizor" Bering <trizor@gmail.com> | |
179 | ||
180 | =cut |