From: Chuck Remes <cremes.devlist@...>
Date: 2008-01-01T12:13:36+09:00
Subject: Zed Shaw - Ruby has dodged a bullet

Much like watching a car accident in slow motion, I could scarcely  
believe my eyes when reading Zed Shaw's screed on Ruby & Rails on his  
blog [1].

I know I shouldn't give an attention whore that which he so  
desperately seeks, but I can't help myself. I'm the guy down on the  
street shouting for the idiot on the ledge to jump. Not only has he  
jumped, but he has promised "future installments" to complete the  
tragedy. I cannot look away; I don't *want* to look away.

Any how... I think Kevin Clark labeled him correctly. See Zed's rant  
for the background on this reference.

If I was in a position to do so, I am sorely tempted to hire him just  
to fire him right away. :-)

Thankfully the mongrel project is in sane hands. He did a wonderful  
job developing mongrel for which he deserves full credit. His rant and  
apparent abandonment of Ruby is just peculiar in light of his past  
contributions.

A community with a significant reputation for helping novices and  
welcoming newbies doesn't have a lot of room for cranks. I hope Zed is  
welcomed by the community(ies) focused on his next language choice;  
based on his personality traits, I'd say he should join the LISP  
community ASAP. Even they might find him to be a bit much.

Happy New Year! Happy New Rants!

[1] http://www.zedshaw.com/rants/rails_is_a_ghetto.html