

Merb/Rails merge, or Why should merbists be happy? - luckystrike
http://merbist.com/2008/12/25/merb-rails-merge-or-why-should-merbists-be-happy/

======
smoody
"Option 1 would keep the competition alive, but now you have 2 groups of
people trying to do the same thing and being better at different aspects. The
community gets confused and communication breaks."

The community gets confused? Give us more credit than that. We're not helpless
babes in the woods. We're faced with making implementation decisions every
day. Which language? Which database? Which framework? Which http server? Which
hosting provider? Which linux distro? And, soon, which Ruby VM to use? And you
know what? Somehow... somehow, we get by. We evaluate our choices (being glad
that there are choices), and we make decisions. Can anyone out there honestly
tell me that they wish there were no choices to make? Granted, too many
choices can be a bad thing, but that's not what we're talking about here.

Perhaps the whole merging thing isn't a bad idea in some respects, but p-l-e-
a-s-e stop trying to convince people that competition is bad. If you really
believe that, then start a lobbying group to get nginx, apache, and lighttpd
to merge. And let's not stop there, let's eliminate all duplication of effort
-- at the operating system, database, programming language, and application
levels. If you're going to make that argument, then take it to its logical
conclusion.

The one solid argument made in the article is the point about having a bigger
core team -- that's always a good thing -- especially at a time when we're
just barely dipping our toes in the water of what is sure to be an ocean of
economic upheaval.

One question I have: will Rails 3.0 break existing Rails app _and_ break
existing Merb apps? If so, then there's room for a new player to come along.
Web-based frameworks are in their infancy and modularity isn't the end-all-
and-beat-all. Something new and different will emerge. At it will be a
compelling alternative to Rails 4. And that will be a good thing. Until, of
course, the Rails team convinces that small group of radicals that choice
isn't what people want. And when that happens, you can expect me back here,
like a broken record, making the same arguments. :-)

~~~
thwarted
Thinking that choice isn't what people want implies that people, intelligent
people, like being told what to do. This isn't my position, nor my experience,
and I can't think of anyone else who chooses "being told what to do" over
making a choice, given the option.

