> ... when they don't have any better tools ... > ... and you need to Get Things Done Right Now ... Depends what you want to get done. CPAN was mentioned a couple of times - I'd like to reemphasize that. Why do you need the lastest cool language if what you want to do has already been done (and is even freely available on CPAN). If not exactly, you may find something close and customize from there. Perl is great because you always have source and, thanks to its just-in-time complier, runs loops as fast as non-interpreted languages. Slashdot is another solid example. They note perl's speed http://www.slashcode.com/faq.shtml#SlashCode1 and they've licensed their code under Stallman's GPL http://www.slashcode.com/docs/COPYING