Zed Shaw's New Blog
zedshaw.com
zedshaw.com
"I’ve found that while I’ve moved on from the Rails scene, the scene has not moved on from me"
The true quality of a community is not just a measure of how forceful or big it is, but how easily it can adapt to change. This quote, plus the fact that the plan for "moving forward" was to pull in another framework wholesale, does not bode well for the Rails community. It by no means indicates that the Rails community is doomed, but it does not bode well.
I'd also like to take this moment to point out that this is yet another indication that the Ruby community != the Rails community. Quite to the contrary, I think you'll find the Ruby community quite flexible and robust when faced with opposition. (Just read some of the recent ruby-talk discussions on 1.8.6 vs. 1.8.7 if you don't believe me...)
I wonder if he realizes he's paraphrasing Ronald Reagan?
Very true.
"The fact that the plan for 'moving forward' [is] to pull in another framework wholesale, does not bode well for the Rails community."
Very untrue. In fact, very contradictory to what you first said. The fact that the the Rails community is so willing to adapt to the change that is Merb bodes very well for the community as a whole.
+1 for "the Ruby community != the Rails community." That's a statement worth echoing many times over.
Whilst Zed's rant uncovered the unholy origins of rails sudden "grass roots" popularity - things have changed a lot since then. The community is healthy, you can get things done without a lot of fuss. Its useful.
But yes, ruby != rails, and it will continue on its own path.
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<table border="0"><tr><td><h1><a href="/">Zed Shaw</a></h1></td>
<td width="100%"><h2>Enjoy the show.</h2></td></tr></table>Also, he can absolutely code - and the code of his that I've looked at has been pretty awesome on all accounts.
The silent majority who likely don't give a rat's ass either way?
When he's not ranting like in the Rails Rant, or his odious performance "art" (insulting friends of mine when they weren't there to defend themselves) at RubyFringe this summer, Zed's an intelligent guy who deserves a lot of credit for his positive contributions. His essay about statistics is an absolute must-read (and he's right). Zed's essays are worth reading because they are well-considered, even if I disagree with the conclusions therein.
I personally look forward to his non-ranting on-line personality.
I see the, uh, "elevated self-esteem" remains. As a member of the "Rails scene" myself I don't feel particularly stuck on Zed, and I don't get the impression many others are either, if they ever were. Maybe a couple of curmudgeons whose nose he tweaked or something, but on the whole the scene is much too large for any one attention-seeker to disrupt for long.
Note to Zed: Reddit users != "the Rails scene". Anyone who got bent out of shape by your rant != "the Rails scene". The real Rails scene is too busy, you know, working.
Not that I don't like Zed, I do. As our gentle host PG once put it, he "offends the right people", and I respect anyone who gets things done. But his antics have been a drop in the ocean. Zed's work on Mongrel affected the Rails scene far more than his rants ever did, so on balance his influence has actually been pretty positive.