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_why is no more

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Re: _why is no more

#341

Post by byrneseyeview »

burke wrote: post #330
mosburger wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nice find - you're a more thorough detective/stalker than I. :)

Yet more detective work: http://javuh.cvs.sourceforge.net/viewvc/javuh/javuh/Model/Ps... He seems to have been working on the same file, in the same day, as Jonathan Gillette. Probably poking around this repository a little more could lead to an almost-definitive answer. Also, here: http://javuh.cvs.sourceforge.net/viewvc/javuh/javuh/Services... the @author is listed as: 11 * @author Why Carlisle (whytheluckystiff@ma…

Kristin Marie Gillette is 21 now. She's on Intelius.

Re: _why is no more

#342

Post by Hexstream »

rneufeld wrote: post #50
Jeremysr wrote: post #2

I just noticed that _why apparently deleted his twitter account. I then found that that wasn't all he deleted: http://twitter.com/_why http://github.com/why http://whytheluckystiff.net/ http://poignantguide.net/ http://hackety.org/ http://shoooes.net/ All disappeared... For those who don't know who I'm talking about: http://wikipedia.org/wiki/Why_the_lucky_stiff

Domains are still up and registered to him... Strange indeed. Registrar..: gkg.net (http://register.gkg.net/) Domain Name: WHYTHELUCKYSTIFF.NET Created on..............: 03-JAN-2002 Expires on..............: 03-JAN-2014 Record last updated on..: 24-DEC-2008 Status..................: ACTIVE Registrar..: gkg.net (http://register.gkg.net/) Domain Name: HACKETYHACK.NET Created on..............: 25-FEB-2007 Expires on....…

Thank god. Would be aggravating if they were picked up by a squatter.

Re: _why is no more

#343

Post by mrflip »

tcoffeep wrote: post #286
yooshooa wrote: post #260

in pursuit of this new knowledge i have discovered that every... easily accessible (so far)... copy of his poignant guide to ruby has disappeared as well what an eff you i'm pretty dissapointed. if anyone has a copy, i would love to talk... i'm certainly the intended audience. yooshooa@yahoo

I have a pdf that has up to chapter 6. Mediafire link (is.gd'd) : http://is.gd/2p1Jd

http://github.com/whymirror/poignantguide/tree/master

Re: _why is no more

#344

Post by petercooper »

basugasubaku wrote: post #290
fizx wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google cache is still live: http://74.125.155.132/search?client=safari&rls=en-us&#38... Edit: Also, twitter search results: http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%40_why Notably: racheltostring: RT: @_why: programming is rather thankless. u see your works become replaced by superior ones in a year. unable to run at all in a few more. about 21 hours ago from TwitterFox

He was (understandably) a bit sensitive about new works displacing his. He almost seemed to suspect some sort of conspiracy against Hpricot: "Clearly, the benchmarks you see on Ruby Inside are skewed to favor Nokogiri... Why not treat Hpricot fairly and use it properly in the benchmarks? It reeks of something." http://www.ruby-forum.com/topic/181699

As the editor of Ruby Inside, I can confirm we (or me, as author of the piece) were not involved in any conspiracy or malicious intent against Hpricot. Heck, Why even wrote the foreword for my book :)

Further, the benchmarks we republished were not by us, but just a screenshot of benchmarks shared by the creator of Nokogiri.

Re: _why is no more

#345

Post by petercooper »

scott_s wrote: post #176
imbaczek wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

mean-spirited? he gave the internet a challenge and somebody took it up, that's all. oh, and it doesn't have to be his real name, too.

By using a pseudonym, he implied he'd rather not be known by his given name. Telling the world his real then goes against his wishes. It is, at the very least, rude. That someone outed him is inevitable. But that doesn't excuse the act.

"Outing" is when you publish private information about someone. In this case the e-mail headers were both in public space. Highlighting something that's already public is not the same as breaking someone's confidentiality.

Re: _why is no more

#346

Post by Semiapies »

eli wrote: post #226
Semiapies wrote: post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree. I'm just not sure how rude. When there's a picture of you in your Wikipedia article from a public event you chose to speak at, you've made yourself just a "Hey, I know that guy!" away from being outed. At that point, I don't think you can claim it's a major affront when someone puts public information together to identify you. I think the "who is why the lucky stiff" blog is odd and a bit dickish, but I'm no…

For what it's worth, Why actively campaigned at one point to have his wikipedia page deleted. Say what you will, but I'm pretty sure he was genuine in his effort not to be identified or celebrated.

It's possible to be truly unidentified and uncelebrated. It's not possible to do so while maintaining a specific identity, especially after it becomes well-known. That he maintained this identity well after it gained celebrity wasn't exactly forced on him.

Re: _why is no more

#347

Post by byrneseyeview »

cl3m wrote: post #337
burke wrote: post #330

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yet more detective work: http://javuh.cvs.sourceforge.net/viewvc/javuh/javuh/Model/Ps... He seems to have been working on the same file, in the same day, as Jonathan Gillette. Probably poking around this repository a little more could lead to an almost-definitive answer. Also, here: http://javuh.cvs.sourceforge.net/viewvc/javuh/javuh/Services... the @author is listed as: 11 * @author Why Carlisle (whytheluckystiff@ma…

I'm ended up on http://members.tripod.com/soccer_riot/ which seems to be some early stuff from _why.. From "Collected by Why the Lucky Stiff", http://members.tripod.com/soccer_riot/famous.htm

In your second link, at the end, quoting from a response to an email sent by _why:

say are you related to francis gillett who wrote that play about the kids who never slept and lived in wyoming.

Re: _why is no more

#348

Post by timinman »

aslakhellesoy wrote: post #283

A few years back I read Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead. Somewhere in the middle of the book someone says "why the lucky stiff!" Does anyone know what that means?

I'm pretty sure stiff is slang for dead person, but it gets used more generally than that, for example: 'working stiff', a working person nothing going for him.

Re: _why is no more

#349

Post by chrisrhoden »

shaunxcode wrote: post #39

Man - what a bum out. The talk he gave at art + code was awesome and seriously inspired me to focus more on educational material for teaching kids to program. I hope he at least gives a more valid reason for removing everything. I can understand letting something become dormant - but others can take what you have done and be inspired and or build upon it. That is not a slight to you it's just the way a system grows.…

Please remember the incredible amount of pressure he felt to continue support for older projects. That is why he initially set timelimits on certain projects. If he had stopped committing, people would have been beating down his door for an explanation.

Re: _why is no more

#350

Post by banister »

crapfactory wrote: post #339
Jeremysr wrote: post #2

I just noticed that _why apparently deleted his twitter account. I then found that that wasn't all he deleted: http://twitter.com/_why http://github.com/why http://whytheluckystiff.net/ http://poignantguide.net/ http://hackety.org/ http://shoooes.net/ All disappeared... For those who don't know who I'm talking about: http://wikipedia.org/wiki/Why_the_lucky_stiff

you RoR guys are the sad ones, its all 100% cult of personality. get real he's only one person, if your community can't survive and thrive w/out him, it should die

first up _why was active in more than the RoR community (look at potion, shoes, unholy, etc). Secondly, the majority of comments have been directed towards the dramatic way in which he left and the fact he will be sorely missed.
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