
Why I won’t be attending Systems We Love - rbanffy
https://blog.valerieaurora.org/2016/10/22/why-i-wont-be-attending-systems-we-love/
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unethical_ban
Re: hesiod on the comments there - I don't know the man, but I have watched a
video or two of him, and first heard of him on BSDNow. He sounded really smart
and had some interesting things to say, but also did take direct swipes at
everything Linux. They copied this, duped that, sucked at this... I did find
it a bit grating, but not knowing how right or wrong he was, I just enjoyed
the show.

To the main point: The title /is/ clickbaity; it feels like the writer was
waiting for a good opportunity to take a swipe at Brian. I wouldn't skip out
on a tech conference because someone I didn't like was there.

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danso
I have mixed feelings about this as someone who knows none of the players
involved. On one hand, it does feel the like the author has felt genuine
offense to publish such a lengthy attack. On the other hand, other than the
main public evidence she offers, this blog post by Cantrill [0], which she
describes as a "layer cake of vituperation and braggadocio, frosted with
eloquence" \-- I guess you just have had to have personal experience with
Cantrill to get that vibe, because it seemed like a straightforward blog post
to me.

Maybe the author doesn't want to drag Cantrill's name through the mud by
posting private correspondence ("I watched him shame and insult hundreds of
people, in public and in private, over email and in person, in papers and
talks")...but for the author to end the essay as combatively as she does
("Come at me, Bryan"), I would've guessed that there would be damning material
in Cantrill's other public correspondence, such as tweets.

It seems like Cantrill's personality, according to the author, is so
irredeemable that the rest of the organizers and board for "Systems We Love"
can't mitigate the effect. Is SWL organized in such a way that this is the
case?

[0] [https://www.joyent.com/blog/systems-we-
love](https://www.joyent.com/blog/systems-we-love)

edit: OK, this from 20 years ago rings a bell (the HN discussion at least):
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9039884](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9039884)

edit 2: This _definitely_ rings a bell, though in this case, it's Cantrill
being a jerk in arguing _for_ non-gendered pronouns, something that I'm sure
he got some criticism for: [https://www.joyent.com/blog/the-power-of-a-
pronoun](https://www.joyent.com/blog/the-power-of-a-pronoun)

~~~
rbanffy
I thought long and hard before posting this here for debate. Two people I
deeply respect echoed the opinions in the post. In the end, I decided so
because I am guilty of such behavior and I police myself to avoid it in
settings where I feel a more careful approach is required.

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webaholic
I had the same experience with a mentor who was very experienced. He expected
me to know things already and he was very unhelpful/mocking when I was not up
to his standards. It was a really humiliating experience. I think the more
people know, the more head strong they become. There are very few really
knowledgeable people I know who remain as humble as you can expect.

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draw_down
I get why people post things like this, but I also sort of feel like I maybe
never want to go to a software conference again. The atmosphere seems sort of
menacing somehow. I certainly wouldn't speak at or help organize one.

~~~
rubyfan
I totally don't get this person's angle. The attitude and attacks leveled seem
a little highschool-ish.

 _he is mean and thinks he 's better than me, so I don't like him and I don't
think anyone else should like him either_

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bbcbasic
I clicked vouch as I think it is worth discussing, even if some may see the
article as inflammatory

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loeg
I haven't gotten the same vibe from Cantrill at all, but I never worked
closely with him.

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abrown28
At one time or another something like this might have moved me but after too
many cries of "Wolf!" I've stopped caring.

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lucd
I watched some videos from Brian Cantrill. He was mean with Larry Ellison.

