Perl.com: Larry Wall on upcoming Perl 6 development, Pt. 1

“What I will be revealing in these columns will be the design of
Perl 6. Or more accurately, the beginnings of that design, since
the design process will certainly continue after I’ve had my
initial say in the matter. I’m not omniscient, rumors to the
contrary notwithstanding. This job of playing God is a little too
big for me. Nevertheless, someone has to do it, so I’ll try my best
to fake it. And I’ll expect all of you to help me out with the
process of creating history. We all have to do our bit with free
will.”

“If you look at the history of Perl 6 up to this point, you will
see why this column is subtitled The Ugly, the Bad, and the Good.
The RFC process of last year was ugly, in a good sense. It was a
brainstorming process, and that means it was deliberately
ugly—not in the sense of incivility, since the RFC process
was in fact surprisingly civil, but in the sense that there was
little coherent design to the suggestions in the RFCs. Frankly, the
RFCs are all over the map, without actually covering the map. There
are contradictory RFCs, and there are missing RFCs. Many of the
RFCs propose real problems but go off at funny angles in trying to
propose solutions. Many of them patch symptoms without curing the
underlying ailments.”

Complete
Story