Re: Joel Spolsky on languages for web programming

Joseph wrote:

Although I respect Joel very much, I believe he makes a fundamental
mistake in his reasoning.

Joel is such a good writer that sometimes his jaw-drooping errors are
impossible to refute. (And don't encourage him; he loves it when you fight
back!)

Basically what he is saying can be deconstructed this way:

* Do not risk developing in new cutting edge technology. Even if
successful proof of concepts are already out there (37 signals et. al)
* Use what most people use: PHP / J2EE / .Net not what most experts
tell you to use. Communities and support are paramount.

The open source tools that succeed must have higher technical quality than
the Daddy Warbucks tools. The latter can afford to buy their communities and
"support" networks. Because an open source initiative cannot buy its
community and marketing, only the strong survive, and their early adopters
will form this community spontaneously. They will provide the true
word-of-mouth advertising that marketing tends to simulate.

And I am sick and tired of seeing at shops dragged down by some idiotic
language choice made between the marketeers and a computer-illiterate
executive.

* Corporations and the people in those organizations favor safety, if
your job is on the line go with the tried and true. Take no risks.

Ah, so looking like you are following best practices is more important than
doing everything you can to ensure success. Gotcha!

Yes, I have seen that upclose, too!

All three assumptions rely on a single assumption: FEAR.

* Fear the technology would eventually not deliver.
* Fear the support will not be sufficient.
* Fear regarding your job safety as a corporate developer or manager
who chooses Ruby or Ruby on Rails for some mission critical project.

Yup - that's the Fear Uncertainty and Doubt formula that Microsoft (among
others) use all the time. They have tried, over and over again, to FUD
Linux. Their CEO will get up on stage and say incredibly stupid things, like
"if an open source platform fails you, there is nobody you can go to for
help!" He means there's nobody you can sue. As if you could go to MS for
help, without paying thru the nose...

Oh, Joel is pro-Linux, right? What's the difference??

All assumptions are wrong.

Better, fear that your boss will experience misguided fear.

--
Phlip
http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?ZeekLand <-- NOT a blog!!!


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Relevant Pages

  • Re: Joel Spolsky on languages for web programming
    ... Heinemeier, co-founder and lead developer of Ruby on Rails, check out ... Joel is such a good writer that sometimes his jaw-drooping errors are ... Communities and support are paramount. ... Fear the technology would eventually not deliver. ...
    (comp.lang.ruby)
  • Re: A Glaring Lack of the Obvious
    ... cell phone. ... marketing them as a convenience, marketing them as a personal security ... care of Dawn. ... Fear is the mind-killer. ...
    (rec.arts.sf.written)
  • Re: Wild speculations about the "other" factors
    ... Bruce McGee pointed out this fear is very real. ... Every vendor out there wants lock-in and high switching costs. ... IMO that's also a lot of unrealizable marketing hype and spin. ... fundamentally confrontational relationship customers have with vendors. ...
    (borland.public.delphi.non-technical)
  • Re: Fear of a Black President
    ... of that fear -- the fear that a black president somehow takes us white ... Marx was an idealist who actually thought humans could create a utopia on ... home of dozens of utopian communities at one point, ... political movements of Communism and Socialism) ...
    (misc.news.internet.discuss)
  • Re: Whats next
    ... It's a marketing ... >themesand an absence of anything approaching explicit sex. ... Fear is the mind-killer. ...
    (rec.arts.sf.written)