[pasbesoin]

Well, that's a fair point.

I think I ended up with a (legitimate) ebook of the 4th edition, but I haven't tried it.

Newcomers should understand that Perl is beget of its *NIX heritage. With some understanding of this, it stops being "line noise".

Perl was the language I encountered that "thought the way I do". For those considering, I think this remains a very relevant factor in its continued existence. For what that's worth.

[AugieDB]

"Programming Perl" was the first computer "textbook" I ever read with a sense of humor. Before that, it had been all dry C books and the like. That's why I liked it so much. Yes, "Learning Perl" would definitely be better. At the time, I wanted both the tutorial AND the reference book, so that's what I got.

"Intermediate Perl" is still awesome for the next level stuff, particularly with all the references and transformations, et. al.