From: "Brandon J. Van Every" Date: 2003-08-20T17:27:33+09:00 Subject: Re: Why would you abandon Ruby? (was) Hal E. Fulton wrote: > > But speaking as someone who has been on the mailing list > nearly four years, I'm just bored with that stuff. Intellectually, I understand your position. I'm bored with all kinds of things in computers. It comes from having experience. But there's a question you have to face as a community. Will you address the concerns of newcomers who might want to use Ruby? Or will you give them the cold shoulder because you find their questions boring? Or even try to make them go away? Will you be expansive or provincial in your outlook? Interested in mainstream mindshare, or an oasis that only "the priveledged" can and should find? Patient with newcomers, or crusty with them if they ask "the wrong" questions? comp.lang.python has already drawn battle lines about this, and that's what makes it a nasty place. Until you've killfiled the irritants, of course. > Instead I like to discuss Ruby's features and interesting new > ways to use them. Nothing stops you. Nothing stops you from ignoring the threads you don't care to participate in. I, for instance, am certainly not reading or commenting about Ruby syntax details right now, because they're of no interest or value to me personally at present. Now, are you going to go out of your way to greet newcomers by saying, "I'm sorry, your questions and concerns about one language or platform vs. another simply bore me to tears." ? Then you are not welcoming. Newcomers don't need to know how bored you are with them. > Now, to address your original question a little: What compelling > reason is there to choose Ruby over Python? (I'm paraphrasing; > forgive me if I distorted your meaning.) You have distorted the meaning. I asked, "Why would you abandon Ruby?" Has nothing to do with Python. I don't assume that Python is why anyone would abandon Ruby. In fact, I rather expect it wouldn't be. I forgive you, seeing as how my original question was about people who switched from Python to Ruby, and someone else cross-posted a Ruby vs. Python thread. I actually started that thread, once upon a time, but I did not crosspost it. It was a different audience, a different discussion. Someone else decided they wanted to share the love. -- Cheers, www.3DProgrammer.com Brandon Van Every Seattle, WA 20% of the world is real. 80% is gobbledygook we make up inside our own heads.