enkidu

There's a new version of Modern Perl out in print now. So, what should you do with your old one?

I gave mine away.

(Just sumthing to talk about, a story to tell ya.)

A friend and her son were passing through this summer. He was about to start A-level Computer Science (final 2 years of high school) and here I am with the Red edition of Modern Perl which is out of date. I like dead trees, but I've already digested this one and I can get the updated one on the website. On a whim, I said, "Have fun with this".

Was that an inappropriate gesture? Will it turn him off Perl? Are there better ways to bring new people into the community? Will I drink hemlock for this?

Maybe it will just sit gathering dust, but it's a thin book that starts from the beginning concepts and includes some of the new shiny. Could it save him from the soul-destroying, tedious tripe that is the National Curriculum? I parted with it never expecting ever to find out what effect it might have. I don't remember paying a lot for it and it probably will do more good on someone else's shelf, even if it never becomes the techno-samizdat of some crazed, fever dream.