From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Date: Sat, 15 Nov 2008 22:33:47 -0800 From: Roman Shaposhnik In-reply-to: To: Fans of the OS Plan 9 from Bell Labs <9fans@9fans.net> Message-id: <755A5533-E1FF-4162-9237-ED54820F8829@sun.com> MIME-version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; delsp=yes; format=flowed; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT References: Subject: Re: [9fans] An Observation Topicbox-Message-UUID: 45b81c04-ead4-11e9-9d60-3106f5b1d025 On Nov 14, 2008, at 8:38 AM, Eric Van Hensbergen wrote: > There are those that say too many cooks spoil the broth. > > This isn't our problem. > > Our problem is that we have a kitchen full of food critics attempting > to direct the cooks. Ok, since I happen to be on a soul searching expedition today -- I'll bite. And then, I promise to shut up. To me, personally, the problem is not that we have too many cooks or critics. The problems is much more closely related to the lack of chefs (as was very aptly pointed out earlier in this thread). Now, when I say that we lack chefs I don't really mean a benevolent dictator who, with an iron fist, would move projects in this community forward. I don't mind it, actually, but that's not what I'm personally interested in a chef. I need guidance. In fact, at this point in my professional career, I would crawl over the broken glass to have the opportunity of being even a lowly precook for a smart chef. May be you guys over at the labs (all three of them) still have that, but I don't. Sun used to be the place where we had lots and lots of good chefs and the quality of hallway conversation alone would put some seminars to shame. But we lost it. Most of the chefs are gone, and those who are staying are much more likely to talk about their 401k plans that anything else. I still remember how when I first got exposed to Plan9 and subscribed to this list I had a question. And I posted it. But not only did I get an answer I had Dennis Ritchie himself commenting on my logic. It was a short comment. But it helped more that a 1000+ FAQ. He didn't asked me to show the code or implement anything, he simply wrote a paragraph of text. This was very common on this list back then. And I fear that we are loosing it. Sure, everybody's busy and we all have to deal with trolls, but if this list degenerates into a place for "how do I..." and "why doesn't it..." questions then we have a problem. I have a problem, at least. Since the last place where I can run ideas by friendly people who are usually 10 times smarter than I would cease to exist. Does it always take a chef to be able to sustain that kind of a conversion? Surely not. Though it helps to be a chef in order to make or break the idea with a single paragraph. Reagardless of your status, just try not to spare commas. As in: when you say "I wasn't aware of anyone looking for this particular functionality" add a comma. Regarless of what follows, be it ", but it sounds like a really nice idea" or ", on top of that this is the stupidest idea I have ever heard" -- it is bound to be better than: "We look forward to your server implementation(s)". Thanks, Roman.