Su-Shee

Regarding my previous post "And suddenly you're hip"....

First of all: Finally accept that there are two Perls now. 5 and 6. Period. The world needs more Perl - here we have it. :) None of the two will go away. That's a good thing.

None of the following is new, but my suggestion would be to do it more in sync and at the same time and as a group to create a more event-style *cough* collective experience *cough* (think GSoC). It might also bring back people who have abadoned Perl but still keep an eye on the community. Considering how people sometimes talk about Perl on reddit or in Hackernews threads I bet some of them just need a little nudge to come back. (Many have never left in their heart.. *sniff* :)

• Pretty Perl Contest - one task coded as pretty, tidy, neat and aesthetically pleasing as possible. Idea: Make very clear by example that the old days of ugly Perl are over and long gone. We are NOT a write once language. Period. (Make it 5 and 6 to show and illustrate different Perl styles.)
• Perl Module Improvement Month - get the lead developers of the 10 - 20 - 30 most important modules together, let them tell how and where they would need help, improvements, docs and patches and let "the community" actually send it in. Gain quality, young padawans and publicity all in one. Perl 6 does something along those lines with assigning this month's task to improve Perl 6.
• Perl Binding Updating Month - make one of those collective hackathons an event which also works as a group thing and makes publicity very easy.
• Moose-based and Perl 6 OO Design Pattern Wiki Update - I loved the idea, but several code examples are outdated and aren't done that way anymore. Idea: Teaching Perl via typical teaching subjects by example spreads the language _and_ knowledge. Be the first address and leading authority for modern OO concepts like roles and traits.
• Write Learning you a Perl (Perl 6) for great good :)
• Have one of those shiny online REPLs to experiment. As apeiron rightly noted, CPAN is "programming Perl" - so add the possibility to load modules on the fly and experiment with them. (Well, not ALL of them.. ;) Perl 6 already has one.
• Write something nice and meaningful about a project - developer - module you really hate. Idea: This internal community bitching really is counterproductive. Please hug now.
• (And now you're going to stone me .. ;) Adopt a PHP developer - help some PHP bloke to switch to Perl and make him stick with it. ;) Idea: Take back the Web. (Man, I really hate having lost it in the first place.. )
• Everyone who has a Perl job: Talk to your company and get the permission to write a "we use Perl because..." piece. Actually write it. Idea: Show and tell that Perl _is_ used (besides the usal suspects). Collect _all_ of them on a central webpage, including company links to the "Jobs" section.
• Continue with the advent calendars - I really _love_ them and I read all of them. RJBS: Yours was _amazing_. Maybe add a "40 days of Perl" before Easter. :) (Or make it like the extremely cool horror movie 30 days of night..:) Idea: Celebrate Perl by date - it usally leads to concentrated effort and supports each other.
• Fill the gap month - Make a "Perl modules missing" list - and make it a month to actually work on filling the gap together. Perl 6 could really do with some more modules as well.
• Actually make Perl screencasts... *sigh* :)
• Ease of Perl month - take a couple of common tasks and improve the perl-related part to make it easier, smoother, nicer to handle/install/use/deploy.
• Perl Begging - relate to each other more - assign/ask for/beg projects and modules and developers you think could do nice stuff to actually do it. Make it a site along the lines "What your Perl fanboy/groupie wants from YOU in 2011"
• Make nice shirts. Some that I can actually wear in public. ;) I'd like a Perl Regex Mug, too.
• Tweet more about what you've done this day/week/months in terms of Perl.
• Ignorance is bliss Perl zen. Adopt a calm posture in the face of idiots still considering Perl a write-once language. Silently paste a link to pretty and tidy Perl code until they give up. ;) Also compile a list of "Pretty Perl to learn from" to actually _spread_ the notion of style and code aesthetics in Perl. I like Mojolicious' code style very much for example.

And yes, I will do my part and not just bitch in public. ;)