From: "Brandon J. Van Every" Date: 2003-08-20T17:47:35+09:00 Subject: Re: Why would you abandon Ruby? (was) Mark Wilson wrote: > On Wednesday, August 20, 2003, at 02:07 AM, Brandon J. Van Every > wrote: >> >> Actually, it would prove something. It would prove that Perl has >> industrial >> incumbency. Then the question would be, is Ruby denting that >> incumbency? Why or why not? > > The Master said: "The noble-minded worry about their lack of ability, > not about people's failure to recognize their ability." > > Confucius, The Analects, XV, 19 Then IIUYC, you think using Ruby is about "nobility." Personally, I'm not shopping for a noble language, I'm shopping for a useful one. In my world view, and that of a lot of other people, deployment is part of utility. >> What is Ruby's future? > > Standing beside a river, the Master said: "Everythin passes away like > this, day and night, never resting." > > Confucius, The Analects, IX, 17 IIUYC, you use Ruby as a temporary expedient? You aren't interested in whether it lasts 1 year or 5 years or 20 years, you'll just do something else when it's time to move on? And by corollary, you don't care if investments in worker training or IP are not leveraged over a sufficient number of years? You figure, eh, write it over, write something else? >>> The people who code at work and are locked-in to some language and >>> don't enjoy programming enough to do it in their off-time are people >>> who, I think, will have little insight to offer. Their lack of >>> input about Ruby can be safely ignored. =) >> >> To be honest I find that a bizarre prejudice. People have to program >> both >> at work and in their leisure time to have relevant opinions? Surely >> not. [snip] > > I think you have missed his point. If someone code's at work only in a > language other than Ruby and doesn't program in their off-time, they > cannot possibly have an informed view. I think you define "informed view" according to your own prejudices. It sounds like you're saying, "Well, if you front all this labor to get into Ruby, well of course by then you're gonna love it!" What about people who start down that road, but abandon it? Why are they not "informed?" Maybe they abandon it because they discover some roadblock right away, that obviates any need for further inquiry? Maybe they're not unintelligent or lazy or insufficiently dedicated to programming as a lifestyle. Maybe they're just really good at doing language product evaluations to meet their industrial needs. -- 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.