[russellperry]

Zed's a strong cup of coffee and guys like him generally play a really healthy role in the community they are a part of, driving discussions in directions they might not have taken and playing the part of Gadfly at Large -- every community needs a Zed to keep from becoming complacent.

"Rails is a Ghetto" notwithstanding, Zed's writing is always worth engaging even when you strongly disagree. In that respect he's always reminded me of Steve Albini.

What Albini would do with Fret Wars, however, is another question entirely.

[schleyfox]

Actually, I tend to think "Rails is a Ghetto" is one of his most beneficial works. It was angry and juvenile at times, but I think it did help make rails grow up. It also called out a lot of the fanboy-ism in the community and helped people who actually cared about engineering to rise.