Python 3000 -> No, but there's 'R***'

[Shae Erisson]

Conrad Schneiker wrote:

> "Aahz Maruch" writes:

> > Y'know, those of you in the Ruby world who make a point of going around
> > trashing other languages are probably doing more to hurt the acceptance
> > of Ruby over the long haul than anything else. It's *rude*.

> Well, thanks anyway for your feedback, although it seems a little bit
> over-the-top to me.

I agree with Aahz, I don't think he's being over-the-top.

> > I was
> > almost interested enough in Ruby at one point to check it out, but I
> > have to say that the Attitude I've seen so far is even worse than the
> > Perlers.
> 
> Hmm. Even though I mentioned that I still use Perl from time to time, and
> made it clear that I thought Ruby was of value to some but by no means all
> people, and invited no response, one of the more rabid Perlers nevertheless
> accused me of trying to start a language war. I'm not sure if any Ruby
> poster has stooped comparably low--at least not yet. :-) But of course I
> would still never hold the posting of 1 or a few Perl hotheads against Larry
> Wall, or Perl, or the large number of otherwise civil Perlers.

You posted the first part of the Ruby FAQ to comp.lang.python at some
point in the last month or two. Would you be offended if I posted part
of the Python FAQ to comp.lang.ruby? However you answer, it doesn't seem
polite to me.

> If the attitude of 1 or 2 or 3 people keeps you from checking out Ruby, it
> seems to me that that sort of thinking amounts to sinking to the level of
> the people you loathe, plus it seems to overgeneralize quite a bit from a
> couple of recent data points. Obviously I don't want to encourage bad
> attitudes, but what I have seen doesn't seem comparable to Perl fanaticism.
> I happened to learn about Ruby on comp.lang.python last year in a series of
> what seemed to me at the time to be very civil discussions. None of the more
> recent postings has seemed notably less civil to me.

Possibly I'm being oversensitive as well, but I side with Aahz. The tone
of a user-community is important to me. I've found it harder to discuss
Perl civilly with people who use it than Python, my preferred language. 

> > It'd be real nice if the level-headed Ruby people restrained the
> > hotheads.
> 
> Well, I'm not sure we (or perhaps they, in your apparent opinion) would
> generally agree about who the hotheads are in this case :-) ... but in any
> case I still encourage anyone who thinks that Perl and Python have been
> unduly slighted to feel free to post their dissent on comp.lang.ruby. I'm
> sure at least _some_ people will be somewhat more careful about how they
> discuss Perl, Python, and Ruby as a result.

The point as I see it, is that comp.lang.python is not
comp.lang.recruiting. There are times when it's completely natural to
talk about Ruby on comp.lang.python. But, small irritations add up, and
repeated off-topic Ruby advocacy, even of a very small caliber, is not
what I want to read on comp.lang.python.
-- 
sHae mAtijs eRisson (sHae at wEbwitchEs.coM) gEnius fOr hIre