That may be, but this thread seems to be "Python is a language with serious deficiencies because whitespace!" If that's the case, then people are pitting Python

That may be, but this thread seems to be "Python is a language with serious deficiencies because whitespace!" If that's the case, then people are pitting Python up against all other languages, not just Perl. That being said, even with the helpful Perl error message, the less experienced developers may have issues trying to determine why Perl doesn't like their double-quote before they figure out what the real issue is. I guess I should be clear, that I'm not hating on Perl. It's more that I see the "OMG! Semantic whitespace in Python!" argument as a bit of a red herring if that's your only reason for not using the language.