1=head1 NAME 2 3perlcommunity - a brief overview of the Perl community 4 5=head1 DESCRIPTION 6 7This document aims to provide an overview of the vast perl community, which is 8far too large and diverse to provide a detailed listing. If any specific niche 9has been forgotten, it is not meant as an insult but an omission for the sake 10of brevity. 11 12The Perl community is as diverse as Perl, and there is a large amount of 13evidence that the Perl users apply TMTOWTDI to all endeavors, not just 14programming. From websites, to IRC, to mailing lists, there is more than one 15way to get involved in the community. 16 17=head2 Where to find the community 18 19There is a central directory for the Perl community: L<http://perl.org> 20maintained by the Perl Foundation (L<http://www.perlfoundation.org/>), 21which tracks and provides services for a variety of other community sites. 22 23=head2 Mailing lists and Newsgroups 24 25Perl runs on e-mail, there is no doubt about it. The Camel book was originally 26written mostly over e-mail and today Perl's development is co-ordinated through 27mailing lists. The largest repository of Perl mailing lists is located at 28L<http://lists.perl.org>. 29 30Most Perl-related projects set up mailing lists for both users and 31contributors. If you don't see a certain project listed at 32L<http://lists.perl.org>, check the particular website for that project. 33Most mailing lists are archived at L<http://nntp.perl.org/>. 34 35There are also plenty of Perl related newsgroups located under 36C<comp.lang.perl.*>. 37 38=head2 IRC 39 40The Perl community has a rather large IRC presence. For starters, it has its 41own IRC network, L<irc://irc.perl.org>. General (not help-oriented) chat can be 42found at L<irc://irc.perl.org/#perl>. Many other more specific chats are also 43hosted on the network. Information about irc.perl.org is located on the 44network's website: L<http://www.irc.perl.org>. For a more help oriented #perl, 45check out L<irc://irc.freenode.net/#perl>. Perl 6 development also has a 46presence in L<irc://irc.freenode.net/#perl6>. Most Perl-related channels will 47be kind enough to point you in the right direction if you ask nicely. 48 49Any large IRC network (Dalnet, EFnet) is also likely to have a #perl channel, 50with varying activity levels. 51 52=head2 Websites 53 54Perl websites come in a variety of forms, but they fit into two large 55categories: forums and news websites. There are many Perl related 56websites, 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 64Run by O'Reilly Media (The publisher of L<the Camel Book|perlbook> among other 65Perl-related literature), perl.com provides current Perl news, articles, and 66resources for Perl developers as well as a directory of other useful websites. 67 68=item L<http://use.perl.org/> 69 70use Perl; provides a slashdot-style Perl news website covering all things Perl, 71from minutes of the meetings of the Perl 6 Design team to conference 72announcements with (ir)relevant discussion. 73 74=back 75 76=head3 Forums 77 78=over 4 79 80=item L<http://www.perlmonks.org/> 81 82PerlMonks is one of the largest Perl forums, and describes itself as "A place 83for individuals to polish, improve, and showcase their Perl skills." and "A 84community which allows everyone to grow and learn from each other." 85 86=back 87 88=head2 User Groups 89 90Many cities around the world have local PerlMongers chapters. A PerlMongers 91chapter is a local user group which typically holds regular in-person meetings, 92both social and technical; helps organize local conferences, workshops, and 93hackathons; and provides a mailing list or other continual contact method for 94its members to keep in touch. 95 96To find your local PerlMongers (or PM as they're commonly abbreviated) group 97check the international PerlMongers directory at L<http://www.pm.org/>. 98 99=head2 Workshops 100 101Perl workshops are, as the name might suggest, workshops where Perl is taught 102in a variety of ways. At the workshops, subjects range from a beginner's 103introduction (such as the Pittsburgh Perl Workshop's "Zero To Perl") to much 104more advanced subjects. 105 106There are several great resources for locating workshops: the 107L<websites|"Websites"> mentioned above, the 108L<calendar|"Calendar of Perl Events"> mentioned below, and the YAPC Europe 109website, L<http://www.yapceurope.org/>, which is probably the best resource for 110European Perl events. 111 112=head2 Hackathons 113 114Hackathons are a very different kind of gathering where Perl hackers gather to 115do just that, hack nonstop for an extended (several day) period on a specific 116project or projects. Information about hackathons can be located in the same 117place as information about L<workshops|"Workshops"> as well as in 118L<irc://irc.perl.org/#perl>. 119 120If you have never been to a hackathon, here are a few basic things you need to 121know before attending: have a working laptop and know how to use it; check out 122the involved projects before hand; have the necessary version control client; 123and bring backup equipment (an extra LAN cable, additional power strips, etc.) 124because someone will forget. 125 126=head2 Conventions 127 128Perl has two major annual conventions: The Perl Conference (now part of OSCON), 129put on by O'Reilly, and Yet Another Perl Conference or YAPC (pronounced 130yap-see), which is localized into several regional YAPCs (North America, 131Europe, Asia) in a stunning grassroots display by the Perl community. For more 132information about either conference, check out their respective web pages: 133OSCON L<http://conferences.oreillynet.com/>; YAPC L<http://www.yapc.org>. 134 135A relatively new conference franchize with a large Perl portion is the 136Open Source Developers Conference or OSDC. First held in Australia it has 137recently also spread to Israel. More information can be found at: 138L<http://www.osdc.com.au/> for Australia, and L<http://www.osdc.org.il> 139for Israel. 140 141=head2 Calendar of Perl Events 142 143The Perl Foundation maintains a website and Google calendar for tracking 144Workshops, Hackathons, Perl Mongers meetings, and the larger conventions 145mentioned above. The web page is located at 146L<http://www.perl.org/events.html>; the Google calendar is named 147I<Perl Events>. Disclaimer: not every Perl Mongers group is on that calendar, 148so don't lose heart if you don't see yours posted. Read the section above 149on L<"User Groups"> to find yours. 150 151=head1 AUTHOR 152 153Edgar "Trizor" Bering <trizor@gmail.com> 154 155=cut 156