Time to do a Man's Work ??

[James Dennett]

Sean Kelly wrote:
> David B. Held wrote:
>>
>> Perhaps there is a small element of personality cult involved, and I
>> think Andrei is popular partly because he is a personable and
>> entertaining guy at times.  He has strong views on many topics and
>> defends those views vigorously.
> 
> To everyone but us, it seems.  I'll admit I'm more than a bit
> disappointed that Andrei gave up on public discussions of D.

There's a distinction that seems key for constructive
discussion, that does not seem important to some here:
the difference between attacking/defending our technical
creations, and attacking/defending the people involved.

If we take the rules of one moderated forum with which
I am familiar, there are no limits on how forceful
criticisms of designs or implementations can be -- but
no personal attacks are permitted.  Occasionally
something slips past the moderators that others view
as a personal attack, and that usually wastes some
cycles when it does occur.  But rarely is there much
disruption from discussion of technical matters, even
when it's wrong/aggressive/discouraging.  Even the
very best programmers make many mistakes, and they
get to *be* the very best by being open to finding
those mistakes and learning from them.

Here I've seen people say "Why shouldn't A be attacked,
when A already attacked library B?".  The answer is:
A is a person, B is software.  Software doesn't need
people to be civil to it.  People do.  We have to make
decisions about how to use our limited time, and once
a particular avenue ceases to provide a viable return
on investment, it's often time to find another place
to expend the time and effort.

-- James