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by Daniel Berger.
Original Post: A Programming Language "Leader"
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What is being a "leader" in the Ruby community about? To a lot of people, it's about the dollars.
Substitute "Ruby" with any programming language, and it pretty much sums up the programming language community in general. Not to name names, but I think the worst offender these days is one that starts with a "J" and rhymes with "lava".
Not that I have a problem with people making money on Ruby, or any other technology in general. But this does remind me of a topic that came up at one of the Boulder-Denver RUG's. Does publishing a book in a particular programming language automatically taint your objectivity regarding that programming language?
I think it does. Book sales equal money. Threaten that income and people become very defensive, very quickly, and you'd be surprised how little money it takes to get people worked up. Not that money is the only reason programmers become defensive about their favorite programming language. Sometimes investment in any particular programming language, both in terms of time and emotion, can drive us to some rather acerbic (and usually embarrassing) rants. But, I think publishing a book can, ultimately, become an anchor that weighs you down that language forever.
Think about it. How many programming language book authors have switched programming languages after publishing a book in their "old" programming language? I can only think of two (Tate & Eckel). Out of what, thousands?
I can tell you that it's one of the reasons (though not the only one) I haven't published a Ruby book myself - I don't want to lost my objectivity.* Yes, I use Ruby as my primary programming language these days. I also think I'm one of its harshest critics, because unlike most Ruby users, I've dug into the guts and I've seen the flaws, and I've griped (whined?) about them plenty. I don't want to start rationallizing syntax/design/implementation decisions because I have a steady paycheck depending on the current behavior.
Am I off?
* Full disclosure. I had a deal with the PragProg guys to publish a Ruby/Windows book at one point, but backed out.
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