[aclug-L] Perl Speech by Larry Wall (3/3)

[John Goerzen <jgoerzen@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

real tribes, they carry ideas from one intellectual tribe to another. I
call these people ``glue people'', because they not only join themselves
to a tribe, they join tribes together. Twenty years ago, you couldn't easily
be a glue person, because our culture was not yet sufficiently accepting
of diversity. It was also not accepting of information sharing. If you
got sucked in by Bell Labs, you might get out to the occasional Usenix,
but that was about it. If you got sucked in by the NSA, nobody ever heard
from you again. Come to think of it, that's still true.
<p>Still and all, things have improved greatly, and the bridges across
the gaps have gotten sturdier. Now people can send their memes across a
wider chasms without getting crucified on one end of the bridge or the
other. And as we started sending these memes across the chasms, what we
discovered was that we didn't have a bunch of separate open source movements,
but rather a single big open source movement. To be sure, it's a fuzzy,
postmodern sort of movement, with lots of diversity, and a certain amount
of turmoil, but it's about as good as any movement gets these days. We
all suck at slightly different things, but we're in basic agreement that
the old way of business sucked a lot worse that whatever it is we're doing
now. We've agreed to agree. Except when we don't.
<p>That sounds like it ought to be the end of my talk, but I still have
a bunch of things to say, so I'll just keep going. Who knows, maybe it'll
relate.
<p>The other day, I was talking to a glue person whose name is Sharon Hopkins.
Among other things, she's known as the Perl Poet, because she's written
more poetry in Perl than anyone else. She also writes a kind of non-Perl
poetry that was dubbed by another poet as ``sharonesque''. Here's a cute
example:
<pre>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; I'd 
travel to the ends of time
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; For you, my 
one, my only love.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; I'd force 
the sun to leave its track
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; (If you were 
lost) to fetch you back.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; I'd suck the 
juices from a lime,
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; I'd re-write 
Moby Dick in rhyme,
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; I'd happily 
commit a crime!
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; For you, my 
dearest darling dove.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; I'd do it 
all, and more beside --
&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Now *would* 
you take the trash outside?</pre>

<pre>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
 Sharon Hopkins
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
 Winter, 1989-90</pre>
I had to write a response to that poem. Actually, two responses. I won't
inflict the longer one on you, but here's the shorter one:
<pre>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; I've taken the trash out 
innumerable times,
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; I've taken the trash out in 
inclement climes,
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; I've taken the trash out 'cuz that's 
what I do,
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; But I *won't* take the trash out 
when you tell me to.</pre>
Well, anyway, most of Sharon's poetry is relational, as befits a postmodern
glue person. As I was saying, we were talking recently. Oddly, the subject
was postmodernism. Fancy that. We were discussing how postmodern stuff
can have goofy things mixed in with things that matter. She likes Iron
Chef, too. That's a Japanese show where you have some seriously good cooking
mixed with an extremely silly race to cook the best meal. Watching the
judges judge the meals is the best part. We were also talking about 
Revolutionary
Girl Utena, where we have the Absolute Destiny Apocalypse mixed in with
octopi falling out of closets. Both shows are full of arbitrary but endearing
conventions. Anyway, I said something about what I was going to talk about
here, and she said an interesting thing:
<blockquote>Yes, Modernism created a lot of dysfunction--nobody disputes
that. We were encouraged to revolt, deconstruct, cut apart our papers,
run away from home and take drugs, not get married, and so on. Modernism
tore a lot of things apart, but especially the family. The interesting
thing to me is that postmodernism is propagating the dysfunction, because
it actually finds its meaning in dysfunction. Postmodernism really is a
result of Modernism.</blockquote>

<blockquote>For one thing, notice how you can't rebel by being dysfunctional
any more. It's no longer interesting--we've done that already.</blockquote>

<blockquote>But it's more than that. Think of Perl culture as a dysfunctional
family. Or think of the various communities that arise on the net. Think
of our Gen X group at church and their obviously postmodern tastes: night
club decor mixed with candles. But it's really about being together. Nowadays,
family is where you find it. Family is where you create it.</blockquote>
I think Sharon knows what she's talking about here. She actually met her
current boyfriend online, but don't tell her I said that. Anyway, I thought
she has an interesting perspective on the way the net works nowadays. Imagine,
open source is merely a byproduct of our need for family. So, look at all
of you out there. You're just a big, dysfunctional family trying to create
meaning. Don't look so nervous. I'm not going to call for a group hug.
<p>Let's see, what else can I talk about. Did you realize how many things
can be abbreviated ``pm''? Prime Minister. Post Meridian. Post Modern.
Perl Module. Perl Monger. Are there any Perl Mongers out there today? There
you have it--yet another dysfunctional family. You guys can go out and
have a group hug later in the pub.
<p>Okay, let's see. ``pm'' is an abbreviation for Perl Module, which is
why, of course, we use ``.pm'' is the extension for a Perl module. It used
to be that we used ``.pl'' for Perl code. People still do use ``.pl'' in
Windows, but that's because they're all still stuck back in the Modern
age. Anyway, there's a funny thing about using ``.pl'' for the Perl extension.
People used to argue a lot about what the next language after C would be.
Everone knew that the previous language had been called ``B'', after the
first letter in BCPL, which came even earlier than B. The two proposed
candidates for the next language were ``D'', because that's what comes
after ``C'' in the alphabet, and ``P'', because that was the next letter
in BCPL.
<p>Well, as you can see, it didn't work out either way. One of the successors
to C was C++, which is a cute pun on the autoincrement operator, but makes
it an absolute pain to try to figure out what the proper extension for
a C++ file should be. .C? .cpp? .cxx? I suppose as a postmodern person,
I shouldn't mind the diversity, but somehow I do. I suppose a little 
inconsistency
is good for the soul.
<p>Anyway, the other successor to C gobbled up two letters instead of one.
Which is why many Perl scripts have the extension, ``.pl'', finishing off
BCPL. It's a pity, in a way. Now there can never be a language named ``L''.
Perhaps it's just as well. Quite apart from the annual yuletide puns we'd
get on ``noel, noel'', there's also the problem that people would have
confused the language with lex, which already uses a ``.l'' extension.
Since lex had already taken it, noel was available. So to speak. Sorry.
<p>Anyway. Isn't history fascinating? Especially postmodern history?&nbsp;<a 
NAME="jump9"></a>As
Heidi would say: 'Tsall good. Except when it sucks.
<p>Or as Tiny Tim says, God bless us, every one.
<p>If you guys want me to stop talking, you'd better ask some questions.
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