_why's complete printer spool as one book [pdf]

Post by coherentpony » Fri, Apr 19, 2013, 3:38 PM UTC

jacquesm wrote: post #41

coffeejunk wrote: post #26

It is easy to see _why as "the crazy ruby guy who wrote some scripts and created all this drama around his persona". Even though _why did indeed write some (very useful) programs, I think this view of him misses the point and probably explains why so many people seem to be puzzled by his newest endeavour. Yes, he wrote some Ruby code, but the code was his least important contribution. _why was the first person to act…

> _why was the first person to actually create art around and about software. That's complete rubbish. But it probably is correct that he was the first person that created art around and about software that you are aware of.

Post by vidarh » Fri, Apr 19, 2013, 3:44 PM UTC

pervycreeper wrote: post #25

mattmanser wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure what reaction you want to elicit by being so scathing, but I disagree with your assessment as it relies on the premise that programming is a science, which it's not. It's a two headed beast, part science, part craft and _why lives deep in the craft territory. I think many of us here took time to realise that, that there's not just a right answer. When you realise it's a craft you want to be artistic with…

There's nothing wrong with combining, say, technical and expressive aims. In a way, that's kind of the holy grail of making stuff. That's not the problem though. I have spent a great deal of time interpreting, appraising, and creating works of art myself, and when I read the OP pdf, pretension and self-absorption ooze through every page. Hollow writing. Whimsical and heartfelt? I say arbitrary and jejune. It's becaus…

Post by vidarh » Fri, Apr 19, 2013, 3:48 PM UTC

spur_ous wrote: post #30

The aspect I enjoy, almost as much as his writing craft, is his presentation craft, any insights into how the 'book' was produced? I'd love to understand better how things like the overbled text were created. A photocopy of laser printed text, then scanned perhaps? The font faces and spacing seem to have been chosen with care, can anyone names the various faces used? guess at the layout software? Then the PCL is some…

Post by nollidge » Fri, Apr 19, 2013, 4:11 PM UTC

pervycreeper wrote: post #25

mattmanser wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure what reaction you want to elicit by being so scathing, but I disagree with your assessment as it relies on the premise that programming is a science, which it's not. It's a two headed beast, part science, part craft and _why lives deep in the craft territory. I think many of us here took time to realise that, that there's not just a right answer. When you realise it's a craft you want to be artistic with…

There's nothing wrong with combining, say, technical and expressive aims. In a way, that's kind of the holy grail of making stuff. That's not the problem though. I have spent a great deal of time interpreting, appraising, and creating works of art myself, and when I read the OP pdf, pretension and self-absorption ooze through every page. Hollow writing. Whimsical and heartfelt? I say arbitrary and jejune. It's becaus…

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Apr 19, 2013, 4:26 PM UTC

nollidge wrote: post #57

pervycreeper wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's nothing wrong with combining, say, technical and expressive aims. In a way, that's kind of the holy grail of making stuff. That's not the problem though. I have spent a great deal of time interpreting, appraising, and creating works of art myself, and when I read the OP pdf, pretension and self-absorption ooze through every page. Hollow writing. Whimsical and heartfelt? I say arbitrary and jejune. It's becaus…

> Whimsical and heartfelt? I say arbitrary and jejune. Weird, since taste is entirely objective and everyone almost always agrees about art.