From: "M. Edward (Ed) Borasky" <znmeb@...>
Date: 2008-01-02T04:35:28+09:00
Subject: Re: Zed Shaw - Ruby has dodged a bullet

Robert Dober wrote:
> Short and pittyless: I hate the arrogancy (but very often there are
> reasons for such things) of the guy, but would always consider
> coperation with him. I *believe* that he has written stupid things,
> ok, who has never? Do not even look at me but if you are I can prove
> the contrary easily . . .
> It is sad that he left the community and it is sad that he has
> problems of finding a job, can we afford to lose such brilliant a
> mind? I do not believe so, but our society does, what could one add?
> Good luck Zed...

1. Well ... there are a lot of Ruby and Rails books on the market. But
there are a lot *more* books on how to deal with "difficult" people.
Francis' point is valid. Behavior like Zed's is unacceptable. It is
grounds for immediate dismissal in every organization I've ever been a
part of, and always will be. Behavior of that kind drives productive
people away.

2. Can we afford to lose such a brilliant mind? First of all, since this
is a "community" and not an "organization", I don't think there's a
notion of "loss" here. That is, we couldn't really have kicked him out
if we had somehow "met and decided that he should be expelled." So yes,
if we have indeed "lost" Zed Shaw, I think we can afford it. There are
lots of brilliant people who are easy to work with, although anyone can
be pushed to the limit.

3. I also want to say something about programming and behavior a little
more generic than just Ruby, Rails and Zed Shaw. Decades ago Gerald
Weinberg wrote a book, _The Psychology of Computer Programming_. Bear in
mind that this book was written in a day and age when programmers were a
scarce resource. I just checked Amazon and the book is still in print,
and the Amazon page links to Weinberg's blog if you're interested. The
point is that:

a. The psychology of programmers is different from that of some (but not
all) other professionals, and
b. There are enough good programmers that one in general does *not* need
to tolerate unacceptable behavior. That was not always the case.

4. Mongrel is open source IIRC. 'Nuff said. ;)
>> I can understand the fascination of watching an otherwise-intelligent person
>> commit career-suicide by way of an embarrassing and tasteless rant. But the
>> Ruby community will survive being kissed off by Zed Shaw.
> I ca
> 
> 
>