Free software's ``Cicinnurus respublicae''

laburu on 2008-04-29T21:00:55

If free software hackers are the Paradisaeidae of the IT industry, Perl hackers must be the Cicinnurus respublicae of the free software ecosystem.

---

Biological meme

mr_bean on 2008-05-08T23:04:54

Picking up on the biological metaphor of "When I think of free software programmers, I think of the so-called birds of paradise -- each indulging in its uncommon, seemingly gratuitous display of beauty and grace simply because it is possible,"



Programmers are like musicians playing to their flowers. Free software ones are those who enjoy playing for other musicians.



Programmers are like second language speakers of languages spoken natively only by the computers themselves. Free software programmers choose to associate in groups of other second language speakers and speak their second languages to them because the native speakers are standoffish.



Why are perl programmers like Wilson's Bird of Paradise. Is it the blue naked head or the threat of extinction or their habitat's closeness to Java?

Blame and pity the wetware: hackers' solidarity

laburu on 2008-05-09T03:59:15

I do not find your “native speakers of programming languages” standoffish; rather, I find computers pathetically compliant and more than a little frail. Computer programs, on the other hand, are the codification of programmers' understanding of how to solve certain problems using a computer, and I do find many computer programs infuriatingly standoffish.

Now, I can see how, if one chooses a biological metaphor, one may construe the computer as a standoffish creature made up of hardware and software. But I try not to forget that, when software fails me, the culprit is probably some wetware somewhere — not the decrepit hardware on my desk. And, FWIW, I spare a charitable thought for that poor fellow, too; after all, my programs are bound to irritate some other wetware eventually, and I would like our fellowship to survive that unfortunate event.

And there are others who feel this way, too, who help each other carry on in the face of all the standoffishness. Could that be one reason why free software programmers congregate — to make all the FAIL bearable?

Perl hackers are beautiful

laburu on 2008-05-09T04:50:09

Unlike the Java programmers to which you allude, many of whom are salaried corporate employees who are content to cut-and-paste their life away in the safety of their hive or colony, Perl hackers are often self-employed consultants who insist on the validity of increasingly exotic concerns like, oh, the well-being of other people.

Indeed, much of the talk in the Perl habitat (freedom, plurality, responsibility, quality, etcetera) is, IMHO, about the well-being of people. I'm afraid you don't find that very often: not in other language communities, and not even in other free software communities. And that's why I think Perl hackers are, amongst free software creatures, some of the most beautiful — hence my likening Perl hackers to Wilson's Birds of Paradise.