What's TOTALLY COMPELLING about Ruby over Python?

[Christos TZOTZIOY Georgiou]

On Mon, 18 Aug 2003 14:55:21 -0700, rumours say that "Brandon J. Van
Every" <vanevery at 3DProgrammer.com> might have written:

>Istvan Albert wrote:
>> Erik Max Francis wrote:
>>
>>>> What's ***TOTALLY COMPELLING*** about Ruby over Python?
>>>
>>> comp.lang.ruby doesn't have Brandon Van Every.
>
>Erik has been in my killfile forever, from other newsgroups.  I even had to
>put him back in after letting him out.  I thought a year would have been
>enough, but apparently not.
>
>> LOL
>>
>> Istvan.
>
>So, you're guilty by association.  Goodbye!

Brandon,

I have no reason to call you names, and I won't bother pretending to be
a practical psychologist laying out my opinion about your social
interoperability; however, I will give your sense of humour a test :)

You have reported that you once in a while lose your killfile[1] because
of newsreader changes, "OS" (quotes intended to humour MS Windows)
reinstallations etc.  A way to do comparisons between two languages is
to test them on practical matters.  So, based on that periodical loss of
killfile, and on your keen-ness of informing your "victimfiles", I have
an idea for you.

Write a program in Python and Ruby that reproduces anytime your killfile
by googling your posts and selecting those containing a combination of
the words "killfile", "killfiling", "goodbye" and possibly "plonk!"
(don't know if you use that one); these are replies to people you
killfiled.
In the process, taste the languages.  Request for support in the groups
(disabling temporarily your newly recreated killfile :).  Join the
communities.  Share the experience.  Answer yourself your own questions
--and CC the groups in that answer!

I can't talk for Ruby, but I have lived the above for Python (and for a
long time just by lurking in the group; we're different in that, but I
don't imply I'm better than you).  Ruby sounds interesting, but Python
has my heart (yes, geeks fall in love with computer languages, just like
with any other human product for which a lot of craftsmanship has been
invested).

Now, after all the sweet talk, I'll show you my true teeth (I'm a faulty
lying human sun of a beach after all) and tell you: "Stop believing
you're a leader and a lone wolf; there can't be two of us" :)

Cheer up, man.  If people disappoint you, don't shut them off your
world; try charming them, for a change.


[1] It was you who reminded me the word "killfile"; I really had
forgotten about it and *plonk* etc, because c.l.py (ok, and a.h.bou)
have been the only ng's I invest time in lately...





...and PS: <me looking at the director>: "was that OK? or did I sound
too hippy? perhaps we should lose the San Francisco background and,
people, somebody stop the Ten Years track, OK??!"
-- 
TZOTZIOY, I speak England very best,
Microsoft Security Alert: the Matrix began as open source.