Talk:Perl

Article naming
Ah is the "in Gentoo" really necessary for this article's title? If the article exists on The Gentoo Wiki, I think it's a pretty fair assumption it pertains to Gentoo. Brenton (contribs · email · talk) 14:58, 18 March 2017 (UTC)


 * Your doubt is natural, but often there're silly contributors who write meaningless explanation "Perl is a progrmamming language for ..." That's not Gentoo specific at all. To prevent it, I created a page named "Perl in Gentoo."
 * But it's true that the original name sounds somewhat unnatural. Any good idea? -- Teika (talk) 07:26, 19 March 2017 (UTC)


 * I'd look for categories that distinguish between articles that serve as "Information about X" as opposed to "Guides on use of X"
 * This is clearly a case where you want the latter and seek to avoid the former --kent\n 07:30, 19 March 2017 (UTC)


 * What's wrong with a brief explanation as to the topic of the page? I don't see what's wrong with giving some brief background on the programming language. Granted most Gentoo users will probably have at least heard of Perl, as most Gentoo users are advanced users, but still I don't see what's wrong with a brief explanation (keyword being brief, if it was several sentences or even paragraphs I could understand cutting it as it would be distracting) of the topic of the page. Brenton  (contribs · email · talk) 07:34, 19 March 2017 (UTC)


 * I agree it can be useful, because some concepts like "upgrades" need some sort of background context on why they're necessary to rebuild the whole tree, and how that plays into portages inadequacies, which explains why we need these hacks in the first place.


 * Just the risk is scope-creep and people putting all manner of irrelevant material on the page which ends up obfuscating its utility --kent\n 07:39, 19 March 2017 (UTC)

(unindent) Sorry, I was a bit silly abrupt. But first let me go back to the original question; alternative titles can be "Perl upgrading" or "Perl installation maintenance". But the article does, and should, explain perl-related categories, so I think "Perl in Gentoo" describes the contents most accurately. (That does not necessarily mean it's the most natural, though.)

(It's better to discuss this paragrath in a more public space.) Now, what was lacking in my comment above? You know, Gentoo wiki can describe matters (i) specific to Gentoo, (ii) specific to Linux (or freeBSD?), and maybe (iii) others. Yes, Gentoo or other distro wikis have to treat topics for Linux in general. (It's not limited to e.g. "short description on Perl", but it can be broader.) But what's always annoying me is that this kind of information is often poorly written, scattered among distro wikis, rather than well written in one place. I often find the Arch wiki is the best. (To disclose my imprudence: I've been biased to think "Gentoo wiki has to be Gentoo specific. Bring all others to Arch!" Of course it's overly simple-minded, but I hope you understand it.)

For that reason, I'd prefer separating "Perl" and "Perl in Gentoo" pages. In the latter, a minimal description on what's Perl doesn't harm. In that way there's no fear that it will result in poor essays on Perl in general. Yet, I don't insist on reverting the rename "Perl" -> "Perl in Gentoo". -- Teika (talk) 05:01, 24 March 2017 (UTC)