I still use Perl to this day because of Catalyst + DBIx::Class + CPAN. I can feel like I can do basically any web development task at least as elegantly, cleanly, and quickly as I could with Ruby or Python. Because of CPAN I think Perl probably wins more often than not on the speed aspect. I also tend to have a lot of backend stuff that runs as daemons/cronjobs, etc. Perl is really great for that stuff.
Perl 5 is obviously on the way out and Ruby/Python are coming in. But they're just passing by each other headed the opposite direction right now. The stigma Perl has just makes it seem worse than it is objectively.
Today Perl 5 is still a very reasonable choice IMHO. I'll switch to Ruby or Python full-time at some point. If Perl 6 ends up being better at some point I'll switch to that. We used to have to choose between C++ and Java and Perl. Perl was so much nicer. Now we have to choose between three languages that are all heaven by comparison. I don't really care which "wins" because I will no matter what.
> Perl 5 is obviously on the way out and Ruby/Python are coming in
Tossing aside this obviously flawed TIOBE thingy (Delphi, wtf?) I see no evidence of this. CPAN contributions are accelerating, not flat-lining. Perl's domination over Python and Ruby in the corporate environment continues.
I think you have to be deluding yourself to not recognize this as true. Of course Perl is very far from dead, but the early adopters and influential people are moving away. Don't forget that C++/Java had the corporate environments back when Perl kicked their asses.
How about total attendance count for all conferences between Python/Ruby/Perl. If Perl was still kicking ass on that (it has historically had some of the best conferences) I'd be surprised.
That's probably a good measure. YAPC::NA this year was the biggest ever, I seem to recall hearing (and I definitely remember there were more women there this year than ever before...it was commented on during the closing address as being a great milestone for the Perl community). But, YAPC is still a pretty small conference, by design, and there are multiple YAPCs each year, in places all over the world, with the goal being to be friendly to independent volunteer hackers rather than huge corporations.
Perl 5 is obviously on the way out and Ruby/Python are coming in. But they're just passing by each other headed the opposite direction right now. The stigma Perl has just makes it seem worse than it is objectively.
Today Perl 5 is still a very reasonable choice IMHO. I'll switch to Ruby or Python full-time at some point. If Perl 6 ends up being better at some point I'll switch to that. We used to have to choose between C++ and Java and Perl. Perl was so much nicer. Now we have to choose between three languages that are all heaven by comparison. I don't really care which "wins" because I will no matter what.