[wisty]

why (with an underscore) was a cool pseudonymous Ruby programmer / writer, who completely disappeared. He's like the Bobby Fisher of programming, without the crazy. (OK, he sounds a little ... artistic, but that's not really crazy).

Some people say he stopped writing because he was in danger of being "outed" by people trying to find his identity. Or maybe he got sick of Ruby, and wanted to do something else (without the burden of fame). Or he's still working under another identity and persona.

The whole mystery thing is typical of him - he likes bringing a bit of wonder into the world.

[nikcub]

I don't blame him for disappearing. The entire cult that appeared around him was completely against a lot of what he talked about.

[wyclif]

I like to think of _why today living a quiet, reclusive life in Pennsylvania with his wife and children, peacefully working on his own projects and art.

[mtogo]

> He's like the Bobby Fisher of programming

W H A T!? How is _why in any way the Bobby Fisher of programming? Bobby Fischer was a famous, amazing chess player. _why is a person that writes code and some people (some Ruby developers, rather) look up to. They're not comparable in any way.

[jarin]

Bobby Fischer was famous, among chess players. _why was famous, among rubyists.

The only difference is they didn't make a movie about _why.

[anthonyb]

yet :)