I don't quite understand that whenever a Perl post comes on HN there is always a need to comment about its relevance or how it compares to x, y & z :(

Perl is just a tool and people use that tool for a myriad of reasons. Whether its in decline or even worrying about it being in decline doesn't give me a good reason to stop using it on a daily basis :)

BTW... the article (and its meme) is really about Google search and this will/does/could affect all programming language (over time!).