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From: lwall@jpl-devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV (Larry Wall)
Newsgroups: comp.edu
Subject: Re: Summary of responses regarding Jim Joyces Unix Bookstore
Keywords: books, unix, mail order
Message-ID: <8838@jpl-devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV>
Date: 23 Jul 90 22:23:38 GMT
References: <1581@stsci.edu> <37505@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU> <7858@ccncsu.ColoState.EDU> <1990Jul17.174054.29575@nbc1.ge.com> <12565@netcom.UUCP> <8834@jpl-devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV> <31315@eerie.acsu.Buffalo.EDU>
Reply-To: lwall@jpl-devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV (Larry Wall)
Distribution: usa
Organization: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA
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In article <31315@eerie.acsu.Buffalo.EDU> pjg@acsu.buffalo.edu (Paul Graham) writes:
: lwall@jpl-devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV (Larry Wall) writes:
: 
: |That's interesting.  I think Unix IS a programming language.  A big,
: |complicated, hard-to-learn, not-very-portable, highly undisciplined
: |language with several alternate syntaxes--an unholy, convulsing, constantly
: |mutating mixture of minimalism and pluralism--an entire ecosystem of
: |programming.
: 
: hmmm, kinda sorta justa little like perl?  note that i said kinda sorta.
: 
: particularly the unholy convulsing constantly mutating part.
: 
: kinda sorta.

But kinda sorta disciplined, compared to Unix.  At least you can figure out
what patchlevel you're at, so's you know what features are available.  And
Perl is structured to allow the addition of new thingies without much impact
on old scripts.  And it only changes as fast as I think I can understand it,
not as fast as a bazillion hackers think they can understand it.  Therein
lies Unix's strength, and Unix's weakness.

But there are certainly some resemblances between Unix and Perl, not
all of them entirely accidental.   :-)

Larry