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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 | ||
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 | |
5691d108 | 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 |
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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 | |
5691d108 | 55 | categories: forums and news websites. There are many Perl-related |
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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 | ||
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64 | Originally run by O'Reilly Media (the publisher of L<the Camel Book|perlbook>, |
65 | this site provides quality articles mostly about technical details of Perl. | |
cbd87e7e | 66 | |
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67 | =item L<http://blogs.perl.org/> |
68 | ||
69 | Many members of the community have a Perl-related blog on this site. If | |
70 | you'd like to join them, you can sign up for free. | |
71 | ||
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72 | =item L<http://perlsphere.net/> |
73 | ||
74 | Perlsphere is one of several aggregators of Perl-related blog feeds. | |
75 | ||
76 | =item L<http://perlweekly.com/> | |
77 | ||
78 | Perl Weekly is a weekly mailing list that keeps you up to date on conferences, | |
79 | releases and notable blog posts. | |
80 | ||
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81 | =item L<http://use.perl.org/> |
82 | ||
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83 | use Perl; used to provide a slashdot-style news/blog website covering all |
84 | things Perl, from minutes of the meetings of the Perl 6 Design team to | |
85 | conference announcements with (ir)relevant discussion. It no longer accepts | |
86 | updates, but you can still use the site to read old entries and comments. | |
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87 | |
88 | =back | |
89 | ||
90 | =head3 Forums | |
91 | ||
92 | =over 4 | |
93 | ||
94 | =item L<http://www.perlmonks.org/> | |
95 | ||
96 | PerlMonks is one of the largest Perl forums, and describes itself as "A place | |
97 | for individuals to polish, improve, and showcase their Perl skills." and "A | |
98 | community which allows everyone to grow and learn from each other." | |
99 | ||
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100 | =item L<http://stackoverflow.com/> |
101 | ||
102 | Stack Overflow is a free question-and-answer site for programmers. It's not | |
103 | focussed solely on Perl, but it does have an active group of users who do | |
104 | their best to help people with their Perl programming questions. | |
105 | ||
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106 | =item L<http://prepan.org/> |
107 | ||
108 | PrePAN is used as a place to discuss modules that you're considering uploading | |
109 | to the CPAN. You can get feedback on their design before you upload. | |
110 | ||
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111 | =back |
112 | ||
113 | =head2 User Groups | |
114 | ||
10a3d64e | 115 | Many cities around the world have local Perl Mongers chapters. A Perl Mongers |
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116 | chapter is a local user group which typically holds regular in-person meetings, |
117 | both social and technical; helps organize local conferences, workshops, and | |
118 | hackathons; and provides a mailing list or other continual contact method for | |
119 | its members to keep in touch. | |
120 | ||
10a3d64e | 121 | To find your local Perl Mongers (or PM as they're commonly abbreviated) group |
122 | check the international Perl Mongers directory at L<http://www.pm.org/>. | |
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123 | |
124 | =head2 Workshops | |
125 | ||
126 | Perl workshops are, as the name might suggest, workshops where Perl is taught | |
127 | in a variety of ways. At the workshops, subjects range from a beginner's | |
128 | introduction (such as the Pittsburgh Perl Workshop's "Zero To Perl") to much | |
129 | more advanced subjects. | |
130 | ||
131 | There are several great resources for locating workshops: the | |
132 | L<websites|"Websites"> mentioned above, the | |
133 | L<calendar|"Calendar of Perl Events"> mentioned below, and the YAPC Europe | |
134 | website, L<http://www.yapceurope.org/>, which is probably the best resource for | |
135 | European Perl events. | |
136 | ||
137 | =head2 Hackathons | |
138 | ||
139 | Hackathons are a very different kind of gathering where Perl hackers gather to | |
140 | do just that, hack nonstop for an extended (several day) period on a specific | |
141 | project or projects. Information about hackathons can be located in the same | |
142 | place as information about L<workshops|"Workshops"> as well as in | |
143 | L<irc://irc.perl.org/#perl>. | |
144 | ||
145 | If you have never been to a hackathon, here are a few basic things you need to | |
146 | know before attending: have a working laptop and know how to use it; check out | |
5691d108 | 147 | the involved projects beforehand; have the necessary version control client; |
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148 | and bring backup equipment (an extra LAN cable, additional power strips, etc.) |
149 | because someone will forget. | |
150 | ||
151 | =head2 Conventions | |
152 | ||
153 | Perl has two major annual conventions: The Perl Conference (now part of OSCON), | |
154 | put on by O'Reilly, and Yet Another Perl Conference or YAPC (pronounced | |
155 | yap-see), which is localized into several regional YAPCs (North America, | |
156 | Europe, Asia) in a stunning grassroots display by the Perl community. For more | |
157 | information about either conference, check out their respective web pages: | |
158 | OSCON L<http://conferences.oreillynet.com/>; YAPC L<http://www.yapc.org>. | |
159 | ||
80983d21 | 160 | A relatively new conference franchise with a large Perl portion is the |
cbd87e7e | 161 | Open Source Developers Conference or OSDC. First held in Australia it has |
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162 | recently also spread to Israel and France. More information can be found at: |
163 | L<http://www.osdc.com.au/> for Australia, L<http://www.osdc.org.il> | |
164 | for Israel, and L<http://www.osdc.fr/> for France. | |
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165 | |
166 | =head2 Calendar of Perl Events | |
167 | ||
10a3d64e | 168 | The Perl Review, L<http://www.theperlreview.com> maintains a website |
169 | and Google calendar | |
170 | (L<http://www.theperlreview.com/community_calendar>) for tracking | |
171 | workshops, hackathons, Perl Mongers meetings, and other events. Views | |
172 | of this calendar are at L<http://www.perl.org/events.html> and | |
173 | L<http://www.yapc.org>. | |
174 | ||
175 | Not every event or Perl Mongers group is on that calendar, so don't lose | |
176 | heart if you don't see yours posted. To have your event or group listed, | |
177 | contact brian d foy (brian@theperlreview.com). | |
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178 | |
179 | =head1 AUTHOR | |
180 | ||
181 | Edgar "Trizor" Bering <trizor@gmail.com> | |
182 | ||
183 | =cut |