From the silent community

[Andrei Alexandrescu]

Steven Schveighoffer wrote:
> On Fri, 19 Feb 2010 10:09:18 -0500, Jordi <jordi at rovira.cat> wrote:
> 
>>    Yes, I think there is some amount of "despotism" in the way it is 
>> being done, but i don't understand at all how people can come here to 
>> complain so much. Guys, if you don't like this, move on to another 
>> language, fork this one, or stay and try to be constructive, submit 
>> patches, etc. Many things can be done better, but don't forget how 
>> much you are paying for this (hint, 0) and how much right you have to 
>> be angry if this people don't do as you say (hint, none).
> 
> Don't take all heated arguments on this news group at face value :)  
> Most people here respect each other's opinions and simply have different 
> opinions on what is better.  Especially with Walter calling the shots, 
> it becomes almost necessary to mount a very strong argument.  He 
> notoriously resists change until the last possible moment.  This is both 
> frustrating and also a very very good thing.  I think without this 
> resistance D would have disintegrated into a mass of unusable complexity 
> long ago.
> 
> There are the perennial complainers that don't add much positive to the 
> discussion, but even they have good points sometimes.  I'd hate to ask 
> people to leave the newsgroup because more sets of eyes are better for 
> any product to become as good as it can be!
> 
> Please, everyone continue to have strong opinions and voice them!  Great 
> ideas do not come from silence.

Agreed. In particular, "good" silence creates the issue that a small 
vocal group can make their opinion appear much more consensual than it 
really is. I recall the case with @property: it seemed like everybody 
and their dog was pro- at property, but it turned out that at the poll a 
silent majority thought otherwise.

I think that phenomenon has a name in politics (large but not organized 
majority with interests hurt by a small, focused, and motivated group). 
Well fortunately that's not the case for us :o).

>>    I have great hopes for D2, that will be resolved favorable or not 
>> after the secret concurrency stuff is published and GDC catches up.
> 
> I have to address this, please go to http://lists.puremagic.com to view 
> all the "secret" concurrency stuff ;)  And phobos discussion.  If you 
> want to join the list, simply subscribe!  There is no secret here.

Sorry, I had to remove the PDF when I sent the manuscript. Anyone who 
has it, please do not share. The book will be out there soon.

BTW, in related news: my editor offered a contract for a PDF edition, 
looking towards Kindle, Sony Reader, and perhaps iPhone and iTampon. I 
guess they liked what they saw :o).


Andrei