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I'm probably reading too much or not enough into this but this left a bad taste in my mouth. It stuck me as the rantings of a hermit, disconnected from reality,

I'm probably reading too much or not enough into this but this left a bad taste in my mouth. It stuck me as the rantings of a hermit, disconnected from reality, ranting about "end of the times" and things "have to change." A lot of people are doing the things proposed in many different ways, but this is written in a way that completely discounts their efforts. I would have preferred to read about someone connecting with some of these efforts other than the "out of touch" zealot on a soapbox.

erikpukinskis 10y ago
The "end of times" is very real. The only permanent thing is change, right? This time is coming to a close, and a new one is beginning. And it is reasonable to think certain things "have to change". Unconscionable violence is everywhere. Many of us see it and continue to do our jobs, but have lost faith in our social structures. We are still here, but our bags are packed ready to try something else when the time comes. In the African/American community (to the extent there is such a thing) there has been an understanding for some time that "a change is gonna come". A lot of us still anticipate that and I don't think think that's out of touch with reality. We know it will be a struggle to get there, but that doesn't mean we're not going. And one last point, on hermits and reality... Many of the tools you rely on were built by hermits out of touch with "reality". Node.js was built by Ryan Dahl, who thought a browser engine could be used to power I/O bound servers. Linux was built by a guy who thought he'd just turn a student OS into a production environment in his spare time. I heard Heroku's routing layer got built when Orion Henry disappeared into the woods with it for a month. His job title was "Mad Scientist". These are not normal, plugged in people. But they have an important and very real connection to reality.
- optimuspaul 10y ago
  I guess my point was completely missed. I meant only to say that maybe the message could have been more positive and highlighted solutions and how people are already trying to affect real change for the better and not just ready for when someone else does something. I don't think it fair to say that Linus or Ryan where Hermits or out of tech with reality. They saw an opportunity and acted. Let's be solution based, not problem based.

erikpukinskis 10y ago

The "end of times" is very real. The only permanent thing is change, right? This time is coming to a close, and a new one is beginning. And it is reasonable to think certain things "have to change". Unconscionable violence is everywhere. Many of us see it and continue to do our jobs, but have lost faith in our social structures. We are still here, but our bags are packed ready to try something else when the time comes. In the African/American community (to the extent there is such a thing) there has been an understanding for some time that "a change is gonna come". A lot of us still anticipate that and I don't think think that's out of touch with reality. We know it will be a struggle to get there, but that doesn't mean we're not going. And one last point, on hermits and reality... Many of the tools you rely on were built by hermits out of touch with "reality". Node.js was built by Ryan Dahl, who thought a browser engine could be used to power I/O bound servers. Linux was built by a guy who thought he'd just turn a student OS into a production environment in his spare time. I heard Heroku's routing layer got built when Orion Henry disappeared into the woods with it for a month. His job title was "Mad Scientist". These are not normal, plugged in people. But they have an important and very real connection to reality.

optimuspaul 10y ago
I guess my point was completely missed. I meant only to say that maybe the message could have been more positive and highlighted solutions and how people are already trying to affect real change for the better and not just ready for when someone else does something. I don't think it fair to say that Linus or Ryan where Hermits or out of tech with reality. They saw an opportunity and acted. Let's be solution based, not problem based.