My apologies for not getting to this sooner. I've been planning on it,
but have been busy with (too many) other things.
Happy Intransition Day!
=A0http://blade.nagaokaut.ac.jp/cgi-bin/scat.rb/ruby/ruby-talk/340143
I was thinking we could use this day to celebrate all transitions that ta=
ke > 12 months... like elephant gestation (22 months), rhinos (~29 months!)=
, N American cicadas (13 and 17 years!!), etc...
Or... Think of it like the opposite of _why day.
This actually struck me as somewhat funny. Irregardless of Ryan's
motives, there is, I think, some interesting considerations here.
_why was clearly a beloved member of the Ruby community --perhaps the
most beloved of all. His many useful projects from Hpricot to Syck,
his fun stuff like the Mousehole and Hoodwink'd, and his writing and
comics culminating in the Poignant Guide represent an incredible of
body of work and a level of productively far beyond the norm. It would
probably be fair to say that we was a genius. One that brought his
gifts to bare on the world of Ruby and made a sizable impact of the
development of Ruby and it's community. He was a Ruby celebrity.
Perhaps THE Ruby celebrity. And we all loved him for it.
However, he did a really crappy thing. He abandoned this community,
without a word, without a thought. He deleted all his projects, lock,
stock and barrel. Perhaps he understood that archives of his work
would be revived. Perhaps he thought by vanishing it would provide
even more drive for others to carry on his projects. But we can only
speculate on such motives. On the face of it he was simply a jerk. At
least when Zed left he honestly spoke his mind and told us why; at
least he promised continued minimal support to the project he was
leaving. But _why did no such honorable thing. He gave us no closure.
Why _why he left is a mystery and it will probably always remain so.
And yet, despite this dick behavior, despite out-and-out abandoning
the entire ruby community, _why is honored with a "Ruby Holiday".
Now I think as far as _why's work goes he deserves all the honors that
have been bestowed him, and I think his leaving us as he did, despite
it's inconsideration, is forgivable. Lord knows, I have felt the same
way a few times, as Ryan has pointed out (and mostly thanks to Ryan).
So I say, "Yeah for _why day!" But it is interesting to note, I think,
how it is that poor behavior seems to garner more respect than honest.
I'm sure you can think of plenty of examples in the larger world, as
can I (politicians especially). Why is this so? Is this a trend of
modern day? Or has it always been this way? Does being exceptional at
what you do, give you a free pass to be a be less than nice to others?
And they'll love you all the more for it anyway? I am really puzzled
by human nature sometimes.
In any case, as for me... All I want to do is bring the many projects
I started (and honestly I started too many, but c'est la vie) to a
reasonable state of finality and functionality, to add my little bit
of excellence to the Ruby ecosystem, so that the community can benefit
from my efforts. Eventually I will be moving on to projects unrelated
to Ruby, though I will remain available to provide support if needed.
And yes, to make this transition takes time, a long time to do it
right. Despite criticisms, I persevere to that end. Perhaps it doesn't
warrant me a minor holiday, but I give my best.
btw. June 28th was Tau Day (
http://tauday.com/) I love this. I
actually thought of the same idea back in 2003. I was working on a
physics paper and kept writing 2π over and over and thought, "This
is nuts. It's a Whole Pie!"
Really that's exactly what I thought!
So I went looking for another variable to equal 2π and the choice
was surprisingly obvious, τ. So I love what Michael Hartl has done
here. He is quite right, in my book. And I'll make sure to celebrate
the day next year... four days after I celebrate Intransition day ;-)
