I have seen so much really wonderful, readible, maintainable Perl code, that I don't think your characterization works.
You know if I come back a couple months later and don't like my code, I rewrite it based on my objections. It doesn't happen often but it does sometimes. It happens in any language.
If you value maintainability, you will eventually write maintainable code. The only flaw Perl has is in promoting valuing getting things done more than maintainability, but that's a culture of programmers, not the language. You can get good groups together than can write beautiful, maintainable code. I have done it. I know.
> What is modern Perl? Python.
I am also a Perl to Python refugee. For most applications I get far more enjoyment out of Python. But try implementing Higher Order Perl in Python and you won't get past Chapter 1 without some weirdness. Using decorators, lambda, map, reduce, itertools, even generators all feel like bending over backwards to achieve what comes naturally in Perl.
This isn't an attack on Python. I'm just saying, Python is not meant for functional programming any more than Perl excels at OO, and that's why I disagree with your thesis.
Check Moose and related on CPAN, modern Perl has probably the best OO among the usual scripting languages (Python, PHP, Ruby, etc).
I think that both Perl and Python programmers disagree with your statement.
I'll enjoy Python when pypi doesn't frustrate me many times more than CPAN, there is some Python equivalent of Moose (Python 3.5, 4?) and the grammar is extensible like Perl 5 (using CPAN modules).
Long-time perl programmer here, until I found Python. Perl is powerful, but Perl is for the programmer, not the programmer's coworkers. It's not even for the programmer 6 months down the line. This is nothing new, and it has become a stereotype in the community.
Yes, this argument has been made and refuted many times, but I argue the reason isn't the language, but the dominant language paradigms.
Perl's "monk" ideal is not sustainable in the long term, and encourages "clever hackers" who can do things with the fewest lines of fundamentally unreadable code. Yes, the language has evolved. Yes, it is slightly easier to read now. But the goals of the community still tend toward the ideals of becoming a master of arcana who can pass his wisdom down to the less experienced.
Give me a language that the commoners can read, that a beginning programmer can feel empowered to learn because he can take one look at the source code of someone truly experienced and know at least a part of what is going on.
You can change Perl all you want, but you cannot get away from the fundamental guiding principles of the language, which encourage antisocial, clever, and magic code.