Someone outed him here:
http://whoiswhytheluckystiff.wordpress.com/
If this is the reason _why decided to pick up and leave, I understand it. We have his code, it will live on. Perhaps he will return in another guise.
If that's why he quit though it's going to have the opposite effect. I doubt more than a handful of people cared to look into _why's identity before today. I've read the guide, watched his talks, and read probably 80% of his blog articles, and I never knew his identity was some kind of secret. But with the disappearance it's now on everyone's mind.
There's a name for this effect but I can't think of it. It often comes up when somebody sues somebody else to remove some bit of information. The suit becomes a news story, and suddenly where 10 people might have known the information, the info is on the daily news as they cover the suit.
Yeah I totally agree with you!!
oh, and it doesn't have to be his real name, too.
That someone outed him is inevitable. But that doesn't excuse the act.
Trying to be anonymous is one thing. Trying to remain anonymous while writing books and blogs and making public appearances, all under one common identity, is downright quixotic and just a bit presumptuous. Simply saying his preference was to be anonymous doesn't really create much of an obligation upon the rest of the world. You can't actively be a public figure and avoid being public.
When there's a picture of you in your Wikipedia article from a public event you chose to speak at, you've made yourself just a "Hey, I know that guy!" away from being outed. At that point, I don't think you can claim it's a major affront when someone puts public information together to identify you.
I think the "who is why the lucky stiff" blog is odd and a bit dickish, but I'm not appalled.
I'm also skeptical of that purported outing as the cause of all this; this is one story I think that a bunch of people chatting and commenting are precisely the least well-suited way to work out the truth.
Say what you will, but I'm pretty sure he was genuine in his effort not to be identified or celebrated.
He has always seemed a bit delicate, and that's why the rest of us always treated him gently. And he repaid us ten-fold with his quirky gifts.
This is like the rape of a beloved children's character. Not just learning that the Easter Bunny isn't real, but learning it when a drunken cop knocks out the kindly old man in the bunny costume, rips its furry head off, and pisses in it.
It's Just Not Done.
Just because the door is open, doesn't mean you have to walk through it. Adults consider the wider impact of their actions, rather than doing something just because "it's a challenge."
As to the rest, it might be best not to assume we know what's going on in this situation.
The whole thing saddens me. I wonder how _why could ever repeat such a public endeavor, even under a new guise.
But you don't know, and neither do I. It looks like someone played this game, and we lost.
for example, if you know him, and you hire him, you still should ignore the on-line _why persona, because for privacy purposes, it is separate, anonymous entity, and you should not connect it to real person. that's what privacy should be.
Also the whole "if you hire him you're obliged to ignore any other identities you know about" is just completely out of this world.
Again: If he valued his privacy so much then why did he appear in public? You can't have your cake and eat it, too.
Honestly, I think it's better to throw out the notion of digital privacy entirely and start pushing the notion of universal visibility, and accountability. Once everyone is naked, we'll stop obsessing over the naughty bits.
I'm not saying that online privacy is worthless of course, just noting that it is quite unique.
Respect for people's wishes is important too. It's quite clear that _why didn't want people to know who he is. Fair enough, if you wanted to work that out. I don't think you should, but I could understand it. Telling the world? That's trying to wave your E-penis at the cost of one of the ruby world's best contributors.
disclaimer: I don't know how long the blog has been trying to figure out who _why is.
But I don't know enough about e-mail headers to provide an alternate explanation if there is one.
EDIT: This is that other guy's site, FWIW: http://jonathangillette.net/
And he's on twitter: http://twitter.com/jgillette
EDIT 2: The infamous Zed Shaw posted a link to another page which I'm more inclined to believe is the real _why. I'm not going to post the link here, but you can find it in Zed's twitter stream if you really want to.
http://javuh.cvs.sourceforge.net/viewvc/javuh/javuh/Model/Ps...
He seems to have been working on the same file, in the same day, as Jonathan Gillette. Probably poking around this repository a little more could lead to an almost-definitive answer.
Also, here: http://javuh.cvs.sourceforge.net/viewvc/javuh/javuh/Services... the @author is listed as:
11 * @author Why Carlisle (whytheluckystiff@mailcity.com)
He talks about a 14-year-old sister here: http://www.advogato.org/person/whytheluckystiff/diary/14.htm...
This being written in 2001, that would make her ~21 now.
Searching for Jonathan Gillette, http://www.intelius.com/search-summary-out.php?ReportType=1&...
a few relatives are listed, presumably one of which would be his sister, however, none are in the right age range.
Right, back to work now, I promise.
From "Collected by Why the Lucky Stiff", http://members.tripod.com/soccer_riot/famous.htm
dolphins.ram has "Jonathan Gillette" as the author. Yet another reason to hate Real Player.
I would feel bad about posting this, but since everyone's apparently going to go around assuming it with almost-proof already, I guess it can't do much harm.
say are you related to francis gillett who wrote that play about the kids who never slept and lived in wyoming.
look at the .txt file : both Jonathan Gillette and Kylie Gillette are present ...
Parents divorcing and family members committing suicide._why has written a lot about both topics and the band description matches up with his tastes and quirkiness quite well I think. So Kylie is in fact JGs wife.
Note the familiar figure on the cover.
I've just created a blog and posted an entry regarding the "_why is Jonathan Gillette" path ...: http://whereintheworldiswhy.wordpress.com/
According to me _why is Jonathan Gillette.
Why apparently went to the University of Utah in Salt Lake City: http://web.archive.org/web/20010518151731rn_1/deathstar.eng....
Ken Roford has an account on facebook, but no details revealed to the outside world.
Also, I think that, since he was hosting a lot of other sites on hobix, not just his personal stuff something could actually be wrong. So I am sharing this information. Please be responsible.
I dug up a Kylie Gillette who is the owner of snapd.net, Snapdragon Jewelry. A quick whois on that domain: Registrant: Layered Technologies TheLuckyStiff Why 1647 Witt Rd. Ste. # 20 Frisco, TX 75034 US +1.9723987998 86a756e735644786cd09875d0acb61365fb02f36@whois.gkg.net
So there is also this: http://www.assessor.slco.org/test/cfml/Query/valuationInfo.c...
What are the chances that a Jonathan Gillette hosting a website for Kylie Gillette who posted to a ruby mailing list as _why and Jonathan Gillette in 02 and 03 are different people? If something is wrong or something has happened to him IRL people would rest a little easier knowing what is going on.