From: Dave Thomas <Dave@...>
Date: 2006-01-28T16:22:23+09:00
Subject: Re: About rant on Dave Thomas site, titled 'imitation...'

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On Jan 26, 2006, at 23:53, Alex Combas wrote:

> However I must ask you, if as you say various members of "an industry
> that seems to have lost its way" mimic your new and bold concepts,
> then isn't that a good thing if what you are really concerned
> about is the possibility of them "slowly dying through lack of  
> innovation"?

No, it isn't. If each of them were to innovate by trying new and  
different things, then the industry as a whole would expand in many  
different directions. If we all just copy each other, then the amount  
of innovation is reduced. It's a question of opportunity cost.

My post came from a frustration that there doesn't seem to be this  
kind of vitality.

It's the same kind of frustration I feel when I see folks try to  
implement a Rails look-alike in other languages. It isn't that Rails  
needs to be the only player. It's that these copies miss the point:  
Rails works because it is integrated so well into Ruby. If you want  
to create frameworks for other languages, don't start by copying  
Rails. Instead, understand _why_ Rails works, then see what your  
target language has to offer and innovate with that.

I'm clearly not making my point effectively, for which I apologize.


Dave



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