On 11 Mar 2006, at 03:30, Wilson Bilkovich wrote:

> On 3/10/06, Pistos Christou <jesusrubsyou.5.pistos / geoshell.com>  
> wrote:
>> James Britt wrote:
>>> Ruby are helped if Ruby is better known and people are assured  
>>> that more
>>> Ruby hackers can be found if a bus takes out the one or two Rubyists
>>> they know.
>>
>> I just have one question.
>>
>> Why is at always a BUS that would hit Ruby programmers?  This is  
>> EXACTLY
>> the vehicle a former boss used in the hypothetical story he used to
>> justify why I shouldn't use Ruby [anymore (heh)].  Are high-capacity
>> passenger transport vehicles just naturally attracted to Rubyists?
>> Angered by them?  Or maybe the Amalgamated Transit Union has a secret
>> vendetta against us?
>>
>> Are we not worth of being hit by cars?  vans?  trains?  hovercraft?
>> *momentarily tries to envision being "run over" ("blown over?") by a
>> hovercraft*  tricycles?
>>
>
> I can't tell you how many projects I've seen fail due to
> hovercraft-related issues.

*nods*

On a happier note, last week the team I work in took a vote on using  
Ruby for development. They're a 15 strong group. A mix of developers  
and QC people, about a 50-50 split, and a few managers. Their  
criteria for choosing was simply "Will you be happy to maintain code  
that is written in Ruby?" The majority were, so now I can happily  
develop with Ruby, rather than keeping the pickaxe hidden on my knees  
under my desk :)

In trying to convince them, my major selling points were that:

* Ruby is being used by other people - it's a mature language.

* Ruby has some significant advantages as a language; comes with  
superb tools and modules, making it highly productive and enjoyable;  
and has a vibrant and active community.

* Ruby code should be more maintainable than (in this case) Perl,  
because it encourages modular, well structured design. This is far  
more important to rapid understanding, than a maintainer's  
familiarity with the language.

But I think I can hear the distant drone of an encroaching  
hovercraft, so I will leave you, and try to finish what I can before  
my appointment with destiny.

Cheers,
	Benjohn