

A Costly Parade, by Why the Lucky Stiff, and that NodeBox pong game -- in Shoes - sc
http://hackety.org/2008/11/21/aCostlyParade.html

======
tel
You know, forget Rails, forget Mongrel. I'll keep using Ruby for a long time
because _why is here, making wonderful, beautiful toys.

~~~
iamwil
I often wonder how he supports himself. Either he lives on little and spends
his time making cool stuff and helping kids program, or he's actually a
Rockerfeller.

Alternatively, he holds down a day job, and is just so prolific that it seems
like he just makes shoes and hpricot all the time.

~~~
rcoder
Supporting yourself and still coding a lot of cool stuff to give away isn't
really that hard. There are plenty of service, light tech support, or even
desk jobs which only require a few hours a day worth of real concentration,
and leave you alone with your thoughts the rest of the time.

Covering rent + groceries in some sleepy midwest town with decent broadband is
do-able on minimum wage, if you don't mint having a small apartment and older
computers.

The challenge is in living the kind of lifestyle that most HN readers have or
aspire to: living in S.F., going out to nice restaurants + clubs with your
hip, hacker friends, owning multiple nice computers + tech toys, and flying to
conferences and vacations all over the world several times a year.

 _That_ stuff gets expensive, fast.

------
amix
What a creative way to diss.

~~~
yawn
Not being inside the Ruby community, I felt like I missed a lot. Was it really
a dis?

~~~
qhoxie
Yes, it was. None of the things said or insinuated were without reason. It was
primarily a _shame on you all_ type of commentary.

------
alex_c
I have no idea what that was... but I loved it.

~~~
maximilian
You should read why's guide to ruby. Its fantastic.

------
sammyo
"Ergo, Zed is Hannah Montana."

Hello? I thought "Zed is dead", but now really, all that needed was an overt
HCE reference to boost such a fine diatribe into the literary flame sphere.

------
bradgessler
Does this guy have a name? Or should I just call him.... "Y"

