This post originated from an RSS feed registered with Perl Buzz by Andy Lester. Original Post: Slipping away from the Perl community Feed Title: Perlbuzz Feed URL: http://perlbuzz.com/atom.xml Feed Description: What's happening in the world of Perl programming, including Perl 5, Perl 6, the CPAN and Parrot? Latest Perl Buzz Posts Latest Perl Buzz Posts by Andy Lester Latest Posts From Perlbuzz

I'm 43 years old now. I've been in open source for about twenty years. I'm too old and burned out for much of what goes on in open source, and specifically Perl.

I'm tired of all the arguing.

I'm tired of the people who enjoy a back-and-forth debate about how communities should run, and want to spread that joy to people not involved in the original discussion.

I'm tired of seeing yet another clueless missive from someone claiming that we don't have to be nice to each other, because hey, we're all adults here. I'm tired of hearing that profanity in written communication doesn't matter because hey, it's just words, man.

I'm tired of those unable or unwilling to see outside their blinkered little world, and to think that others might think differently, and to think that their feelings might matter.

I'm tired of people who confuse being verbally abusive with "not getting along."

I'm tired of people who think that verbal abuse of another human is ever acceptable.

I'm tired of being made to witness verbal abuse as competition, where the abuser places more pride in his cleverness than any consideration of how the listener might hear it.

I'm tired of seeing cool new projects and realizing I will never use them, because I don't want to be associated with key members of the communities surrounding them.

I'm tired of having to delete comments on Perlbuzz because the commenters can't manage to make a point without slinging insults at those with whom they disagree.

I'm tired of having to walk away from sub-communities because of all of the above. The end result is I become more and more isolated from the rest of Perl.

That means less contribution, technical and otherwise, from me, and from the others who have shared the same concerns with me regarding their own contributions.

And it makes me sad that I feel my community slipping away. And it makes me sad that Perl loses because of it.