This document attempts to explain how Perl development takes place, and ends with some suggestions for people wanting to become bona fide porters. The perl5-porters mailing list is where the Perl standard distribution is maintained and developed. The list can get anywhere from 10 to 150 messages a day, depending on the heatedness of the debate.
Most days there are two or three patches, extensions, features, or bugs being discussed at a time.
Some are quiet curious lurkers, who rarely pitch in and instead watch the ongoing development to ensure they're forewarned of new changes or features in Perl. Some are representatives of vendors, who are there to make sure that Perl continues to compile and work on their platforms. In other words, it's your usual mix of technical people. Over this group of porters presides Larry Wall. He has the final word in what does and does not change in the Perl language.