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http://www.idlewords.com/2005/04/dabblers_and_blowhards.htm http://www.idlewords.com/2005/04/dabblers_and_blowhards.htm Probably worth linking to here. While

http://www.idlewords.com/2005/04/dabblers_and_blowhards.htm http://www.idlewords.com/2005/04/dabblers_and_blowhards.htm Probably worth linking to here. While I enjoy pg's writing and I think the essays convey a good message in spirit, I do think there's quite a substantial populist aspect to some of them. I'm glad I read all of them, but if I had to choose, I'd probably get On Lisp in deadtree format first.

zyfo 15y ago
That's just one of many essays in the book. I would hardly call the book as a whole populistic - if anything it's contrarian. Also, the linked blog post didn't strike me as very convincing. The points that were potentially valid ("Start with purpose" paragraph and reference 4) were underdeveloped and most of it read like a rant.
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
- horseracer999 15y ago
  I think this is the best summary of it. The author strikes me as insecure.
lawnchair_larry 15y ago
Interesting. Not only is this guy getting downvoted, but I have showdead on, so I can see that another person commented with this link and the comment got nuked. This is not a troll, and it is not inflammatory. It is reasonable discourse and an opposing view. These kinds of things are required for intellectual honesty. It's especially ironic because the post starts out with a quote from pg: I actually worry a lot that as I get "popular" I'll be able to get away with saying stupider stuff than I would have dared say before. This sort of thing happens to a lot of people, and I would really* like to avoid it* Whichever moderator killed that link, and anyone downvoting this guy - high quality discussion allows reasonable minds to disagree. Censoring it because it is about pg is perpetuating the very problem pg describes.
- pg 15y ago
  The other comment wasn't killed by a moderator. It got autokilled because the account is banned.
  - gjm11 15y ago
    That account's previous comment isn't dead, according to http://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=hans00 http://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=hans00. Was the account banned between that comment's (quite recent) posting and this one's? (That probably sounds like some kind of passive-aggressive complaint about the fact that hans00 got banned, so let me add that after looking through his comments I think his net contribution was solidly negative on account of his gratuitously obnoxious tone.)
    - pg 15y ago
      Yes.
- irrumator 15y ago
  I also disagree with the downvoting as it goes against all the rules and very spirit of HN, but this whole area is kinda touchy. It's probably the biggest amount of beef ever in HN history. It spilled out into outright brawls in the comments more than once between pg and idlewords: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=982832 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=982832 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1048849 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1048849 Kindof hilarious actually. idlewords finishes by calling pg a "weenis".
  - trewq 15y ago
    "idlewords finishes by calling pg a "weenis"." Yes I thought the crude insults were indicative of the quality of the post as a whole.
    - blasdel 15y ago
      Did you not read the preceding paragraph? Maciej was mocking Paul's use of the same name-calling he professes to despise.
shawndrost 15y ago
Lots of fun back-and-forth about that essay in past submissions: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1048849 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1048849

zyfo 15y ago

That's just one of many essays in the book. I would hardly call the book as a whole populistic - if anything it's contrarian. Also, the linked blog post didn't strike me as very convincing. The points that were potentially valid ("Start with purpose" paragraph and reference 4) were underdeveloped and most of it read like a rant.

deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
horseracer999 15y ago
I think this is the best summary of it. The author strikes me as insecure.

lawnchair_larry 15y ago

Interesting. Not only is this guy getting downvoted, but I have showdead on, so I can see that another person commented with this link and the comment got nuked. This is not a troll, and it is not inflammatory. It is reasonable discourse and an opposing view. These kinds of things are required for intellectual honesty. It's especially ironic because the post starts out with a quote from pg: I actually worry a lot that as I get "popular" I'll be able to get away with saying stupider stuff than I would have dared say before. This sort of thing happens to a lot of people, and I would really* like to avoid it* Whichever moderator killed that link, and anyone downvoting this guy - high quality discussion allows reasonable minds to disagree. Censoring it because it is about pg is perpetuating the very problem pg describes.

pg 15y ago
The other comment wasn't killed by a moderator. It got autokilled because the account is banned.
- gjm11 15y ago
  That account's previous comment isn't dead, according to http://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=hans00 http://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=hans00. Was the account banned between that comment's (quite recent) posting and this one's? (That probably sounds like some kind of passive-aggressive complaint about the fact that hans00 got banned, so let me add that after looking through his comments I think his net contribution was solidly negative on account of his gratuitously obnoxious tone.)
  - pg 15y ago
    Yes.
irrumator 15y ago
I also disagree with the downvoting as it goes against all the rules and very spirit of HN, but this whole area is kinda touchy. It's probably the biggest amount of beef ever in HN history. It spilled out into outright brawls in the comments more than once between pg and idlewords: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=982832 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=982832 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1048849 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1048849 Kindof hilarious actually. idlewords finishes by calling pg a "weenis".
- trewq 15y ago
  "idlewords finishes by calling pg a "weenis"." Yes I thought the crude insults were indicative of the quality of the post as a whole.
  - blasdel 15y ago
    Did you not read the preceding paragraph? Maciej was mocking Paul's use of the same name-calling he professes to despise.

shawndrost 15y ago

Lots of fun back-and-forth about that essay in past submissions: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1048849 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1048849