"Perl is somewhat unique among programming languages, largely because its inventor, Larry Wall, wanted his creation to resemble a natural language. For the most part, he has succeeded; Perl has evolved quite like a natural language since its inception in 1987, adapting to changing circumstances and a growing developer community. However, unlike with a natural language, Wall has always been the primary force behind Perl's design and revisions.
"Now, Wall is taking another step closer to his ideal. Instead of trying to generate all the ideas for Perl 6 on his own, Wall asked the Perl community to submit Requests for Comment (RFCs) on suggestions for the language. As he said during one of his so-called 'State of the Onion' speeches, 'Perl 5 was my rewrite of Perl. I want Perl 6 to be the community's rewrite of Perl....'
"The community brainstorming session that followed Wall's announcement generated more than 300 RFCs. Of course, not all of those ideas were accepted, but Wall now has quite a bit of brainpower to work with in addition to his own..."
