From: Shashank Date <sdate@...>
Date: 2005-01-30T04:55:51+09:00
Subject: Re: Best ways to accelerate Ruby's popularity

Hi,

James Britt wrote:

>> I've not been around long enough to know Ruby or the Ruby community
>> very well. There seems to be lots of politics going around which I
>> don't understand. 
> 
> 
> Interesting; I just don't see it.  But maybe I've been blinded.
> 

I can relate to Douglas's feeling. Right after I joined this mailing
list about three years ago, I found myself in the middle of a heated
discussion about the German translation of PickAxe and some issues
related to copyrights (or something to that effect). And I said to
myself, "Man, there is some mud-slinging going on here. No different
than groups. Let us just lurk for a while and figure out the political
terrain ... or better still just quit". Thankfully, that feeling went
out of the window very soon (due to some kind and thoughtful suggestions
by Hal Fulton) and I decided to hang on for a while. Never regretted
that decision to this day.

Of course, there is some politics going on here: long timers get tired
of explaining the same thing over and over again and some of them may
get all riled up if a new comer suggests and keeps defending her/his
point of view. Pretty soon, inflamatory verbage starts flowing out and
flame wars errupt. That, I feel, is a part of the growing pain. All I
can hope for is that people stay civil and calm while responding (easier
said than done) and ignore, yes completely ignore, the occasional trolls
that go tromping by. Not even say "this is troll" kind of ignore.

Having said so much, I must admit that this one of the nicest
communities I have been a part of, where the movers and shakers of the
language very patiently help dummies like me get their bearing.

Keep it up guys. And enjoy programming, use Ruby :-)

-- shanko