From: Professor Boobenstein <DocBoobenstein@...>
Date: 2004-04-30T14:21:37+09:00
Subject: Re: How's ruby compare to it older brother python

I quite agree with all of the below. As for how to work it out -
perhaps a FAQ could be written up on this regard? With regular updates
as deemed necessary. Perhaps a wiki site could be dedicated to this,
so that contributors may be added easily. Just my 0.02 units of your
favorite currency.

On Fri, 30 Apr 2004 13:50:35 +0900, trevor andrade
<trevor.andrade@utoronto.ca> wrote:
> 
> I agree that flaming the question is not appropriate and its also bad for
> the Ruby community in general. �One of the things that attracted to me to
> the Ruby language was the open-mindedness of the list members and the
> friendliness of the Ruby community. � One of the things that amazed me about
> the Ruby community (at least in the past) was that they almost never flamed
> people who discussed the advantages of other languages over Ruby. �In fact
> sometimes they even admitted certain languages had advantages over Ruby. �I
> also thought Matz was very humble and unassuming (maybe because he is
> Japanese) considering that he is the creator of the language. In fact I
> don't think I have ever heard Matz flame anyone. �On the other hand the
> exact opposite is true of the Python list. �Guido has flamed people who
> asked reasonable questions and �based on my limited experience on the Python
> list I found him incredibly rude. �Additionally the Pythonistas in general
> appear to me to be very narrow minded and intolerant. �One reason why I have
> avoided learning Lisp is that the Lispers are unbelievebly intolerant of
> anyone questioning their language. �It saddens me to see the same thing
> starting to happen on the Ruby list.
> 
> I do not agree that this topic is not appropriate to discuss. �This is a
> topic that ought to be rehashed periodically because the are many possible
> comparisons that can be made between Python and Ruby. �It is possible to
> compare the languages with respect to speed, power, syntax, libraries,
> community, philosophy, readability, beauty etc. �Additionally both languages
> are changing so there will always be new things to compare. �Comparisons are
> useful in general because they help us to understand a languages strengths
> and weaknesses and how it can be improved in the future. �Also there is no
> reason a person cannot use both Ruby and Python. �They are not mutually
> exclusive. �Knowing something about each languages strengths and weaknesses
> would be helpful for deciding whether to use Python or Ruby on a given
> project.
> 
> As to the question of the time wasted responding to these questions I think
> that is a total red herring. �If you don't want to waste time responding,
> don't read the message or just delete it. �No one is forcing anyone to do
> anything. �How long does it take to press the delete button? �Probably less
> time than it does for the guy who asked the question to search the archives
> for the answer to the question. �I think the real reason that people don't
> like this sort of question is that they feel it is really an attack on the
> Ruby language which they take personally. �I really don't understand why
> anyone would take any of these questions personally even if they are stealth
> attacks on the Ruby language. �Why not just answer the question
> respectfully, referencing the archives if necessary and let that be the end
> of it.
> 
> Regards,
> Trevor
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ken Hilton [mailto:kenosis@comcast.net]
> Sent: Tuesday, April 27, 2004 11:44 PM
> To: ruby-talk ML
> Subject: Re: How's ruby compare to it older brother python
> 
> Amen, brother.
> 
> "Dan Doel" <djd15@po.cwru.edu> wrote in message
> news:200404272217.26571.djd15@po.cwru.edu...
> > I don't really mind this type of question a whole lot, but it does occur a
> > lot. Personally, I think it's best dealt with links to existing
> discussions.
> >
> > There's no need to discuss this topic over and over when there are
> archives
> > where it has all been said. It doesn't take any longer to read the
> archives
> > than it does to read new posts saying the same things.
> >
> > Plus this particular topic attracts more trolling than the average
> ruby-talk
> > thread, so they tend to grow huge with people making personal attacks at
> each
> > other.
> >
> > I don't really think flaming the question was entirely appropriate, but
> > perhaps someone should collect a bunch of links to old ruby-talk posts and
> > other resources so we can have a canned response to this topic and leave
> it
> > at that.
> >
> > - Dan
> >
> >
> 
>