Su-Shee

This is what you get after only 2 days of Perl version numbering scheme discussions - #perl on freenode:

10:17 < someone> i have been hearing rumors about a certain Perl 7.0
10:18 < someone> is it true? Any links / confirmation about that ?

10:21 < someone> last time i was in this channel (one year ago) perl 6 and perl 5 were two different entity....
10:21 < someone> is it still the case ?

10:21 < someone> does that mean perl 7 will merge those two ?

^^^^^^^^^^^ Yeah, this is probably what many people would expect - I didn't even THINK about that..

10:25 < someoneElse> when i proposed that some time ago in this channel, the reaction was "that'll only create more confusion." guess that's still true...
10:26 < someone> the fact that perl 5 and perl 6 are two different entity is confusing enough

^^^^^^^^^ Here is what the average Perl user thinks about all this...

10:27 < anotherOne> python2/3 has this issue?

Yes, that immediately comes to mind, too...

10:28 < someone> if they call it perl 2013, the adoption rate will be through the roof

^^^^^^^ and that's their expectation.

10:29 < someone> "not giving a shit" this is what i have been doing the last 3 years....
10:30 < we> would you start giving one because someone changed a version name?
10:30 < someone> if they merge perl 5/6 then yes

There you go. That's what people seem to derive from all the talk about version numbers...

10:31 < someone> so perl 6 is still just a program within a virtual machine that does nothing concrete? i mean you never hear a website powered by perl 6....

And that's the average perception...

So, now basically buzz was created successfully - and now?

What to tell people?

Every time "us common folks" get excited and hopeful for something new and shiny in Perl, the result is: "Well no, there will be no merge." and "Well no, you can't load Perl 5 modules in Rakudo yet." or "Well no, there are no X, Y and Z feature new in Perl 5 with this release."

Or do I get Moe as Perl 2013?