Just a note, that the idiom, "bird in the hand" is a statement that one should value that which they already possess over that which they do not yet possess, even if the latter is ostensibly worth more than the former.
The full proverb is "a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush." I recognize that you didn't quote this directly.
I am not sure if you meant to invert the common meaning here. The thrust of your post reads as if favoring this new direction for Perl, on the basis that it will bring in new users. The "bird in the hand" proverb would counsel the opposite - favoring stability to cater to current users, regardless of the impact on potential new users.
I'm not inverting the meaning. I used that idiom precisely because it conveys the meaning that going after the two in the bush can leave you empty handed. I think this is a terrible idea and that antagonizing your existing users on the hope that new users will start using perl is going to kill your community, and I hope that the real reason for the decisions made around Perl7 are not actually to attract new users by compromising what the existing user base cares about. The post wasn't supposed to read as if it favors the new direction - sorry if that wasn't clear, it was supposed to convey the exact opposite through the use of the bird in the hand idiom and dismissing the birds in the bush as a mere hope that they'll get a rush of new users.
I don’t actually think that’s what it means. I thought it meant when you have two birds you can go after, if you go after both you may catch neither, but if you go after just one it’s better than having caught none.
It means you already have caught one bird (the one in your hand), and that’s more valuable than giving that one up for the chance to try for two that you have a low risk of catching (the two in the bush) because you have to release the one in your hand if you want to try for the two on the bushes.
The proverb is "a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush." It posits a scenario with three birds, one held in the hand, and two free in the bush. We can assume all bird have the same intrinsic value. If each bird has the same intrinsic value, the only way one can be worth more than two is from a subjective perspective. From the perspective of the bird-holder (who is defined to hold one bird), that bird in hand is worth more than the two free birds.
The reason for this is that the bird in hand is certain. The value to the bird-holder of the free birds must be discounted based on some probability that the bird-holder may capture these birds.
The implication is that to go bird-hunting, one requires two hands. In order to attempt to capture the two birds in the bush, one must first relinquish the single held bird. Bird hunting has some probability of failure. If you hunt for the two birds in the bush (by first letting go of the bird you have), you may end the day with no birds to your name, a position that is leaves you worse off than if you had simply held your bird in hand.
In the case of Perl and its userbase, the bird in hand consists of existing users who value stability and portability (per the article). The birds in the bush comprise current Perl non-users. There are more current Perl non-users than users. Pursuing current non-users by means that alienate current users may leave the language with fewer total users if there are simultaneously
1. A low rate of non-user to user conversion
2.And a high rate of user to non-user conversion.
Several references for the proverb, usage, and origins:
It's interesting that the number of birds change a lot from language to language.
In Spanish, the proverb is "A bird in the hand is worth more than a hundred flying." and according to https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&u=https... it comes from a Latin proverb that is "A bird in the right hand is better than four out (of it)."
Also, even if you can catch the two birds for certain, it might not be worth it. For example, it could require more than one birds worth of calories to catch two birds, so the bird in hand that costs zero calories is the strictly superior option.
The generally accepted meaning is that already having something (the bird in hand) is worth more than chasing after things that you don't have (the birds in the bush). So in this case, the idea is that customers you've already acquired are worth more than a larger, untapped market. The poster has flipped this accepted meaning to suggest that Perl should chase after new users, rather than focusing on keeping existing users happy.
The full proverb is "a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush." I recognize that you didn't quote this directly.
I am not sure if you meant to invert the common meaning here. The thrust of your post reads as if favoring this new direction for Perl, on the basis that it will bring in new users. The "bird in the hand" proverb would counsel the opposite - favoring stability to cater to current users, regardless of the impact on potential new users.