yet another bloody manifesto

[waider]

How does this Comment Spam Manifesto differ from what those of us who give a shit have been doing for some years now? Why is it that every so often, someone collects up a bunch of standard, well-worn geek behaviour, writes about it, and is suddenly hailed as some sort of visionary? (c.f. The Cathedral and the Bazaar, The Cluetrain Manifesto, etc.) You may think of it, perhaps, as sour grapes on my part that I didn't do it first; you may also think of it as sheer disbelief not just that someone spent time doing this, but that a whole bunch of other people suddenly realised they had a GOD in their midst. Jeez. Get a grip, people, it's only ones and zeros.

Comments

[kodi]

In this case, far more than the other examples you cite, it's because the writing appeals to a group of people who desperately want to believe that what they do is important, even though what they're doing is basically leaving their diary out where someone can find it, except they printed out 10,000 copies of it and left them sitting in the comfy chair at every Starbucks in town.

I think the term we had for this sort of writing, back in the day, was "stroker."

[wisn.livejournal.com]

Three or seven reasons follow:

(1) Because for as much as the author praises himself and his kind for technical acumen, they aren't so astute. When they grasp the extenuating circumstances surrounding their habitat (in this case, blogging, although it could extend to issues around running a commercial website, killfiling on usenet, filtering email, etc.), they've made a small step in learning.

(1a) Maybe complain about them not learning fast enough, but dammit, they're learning at all. Take some comfort in that.

(1b) Geeks in particular are notoriously reticent about what they know, and then indignant when the non-geeks glom onto it, modifying as they go in ways that geeks would not. So try some outreach and short-circuit that process.

(2) The Cluetrain Manifesto wasn't for you, it was for 'the suits' or other non-technically-ept people trying to capitalize on the gold rush by inventing lopsided wheels. Of course it's obvious to the extent of condescending - it's telling you what you know, not what they know. C&B is a slightly different thing, being a great deal more chest-thumping. On the other hand, it's codified a process and ethos and defined the terms by which a 'movement', if you will, or 'culture' exists, which gives it legitimacy and form, and from there you're able to go to business people and say, 'there's an open-source package for that, save yourselves ten grand,' and they know what you're talking about.

(2a) Eric Raymond may be a pud, but that doesn't mean he's always wrong.

(3) Celebrity of that sort is short-lived. Especially since the author hasn't even announced action or innovation, he's decided to complain about spam.

(3a) Even in that post, he still has trackbacks enabled, which is how spammers are spidering blog comments in the first place. So, you know, see point (1b).

[omarius.livejournal.com]

I agree with your statement, but disagree with your attitude. :)

It's not fair that someone becomes hailed as an originator just because they are a documentor. But I think it's important to document things in this vein for the same reason it's good to write essays on current events or trends in the stock market: it spreads information known by a few to others who don't have the benefit of a life's work in the discussed field. Also, a good article in this vein synthesizes that information, which in turn helps people think holistically about the field.

"Only ones and zeroes" becomes significant when those lowly tools get used in a way--positive or negative--that significantly impacts the way a significant portion of the population go about their daily lives.

Or, in short: hell, I'll support anything that will encourage others to think.

[candice.livejournal.com]

You've now got me scrambling in the back of my head for the "and this is my Manifesto" speech in Hackers.

Must resist ranting about eric raymond in your general direction.

[waider.livejournal.com]

Feel free to rant about esr in my general direction, I'll most likely respond by nodding eagerly.

Mind you, I do agree with what wisn said: just because he's a pud doesn't mean he's always wrong or anything.

So, any sign of your log coming back soon?

[candice.livejournal.com]

>So, any sign of your log coming back soon?

That's a 'whenever someone else gets around to mounting the disks'
so that I can get archive stuff off of my poor dead server.
Soon hopefully?