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by jonnytran 6310 days ago
Maybe for more people on HN, Lisp is part of their identity, so they get defensive.
2 comments

I haven't noticed this. Most people here seem to be PHP "programmers", which I find hilarious. There is also a large Ruby contingent (whenever someone links their open source project, it's always Ruby.)
Why the quotes around "programmers"? I think Facebook is mostly PHP (or at least was initially?) and I am definitely not going to claim no one working at Facebook is a programmer.

I understand that PHP is an atrocious language (although I haven't tried it myself). But if someone uses it to create a product that people want and satisfies a need, more power to them, right?

I'm just saying that the demographic here is more people that think they can get rich off some PHP app than hard-core Lisp hackers. I am not saying that there are no PHP programmers, merely that the PHP-lovers here don't do much programming.

I am being unfair to PHP, though... Java sucks too.

You could have conveyed the same salient information without the elitist subtext.
Probably, but I don't think I should try to hide my biases and personal opinions on social news sites.
To me, there's a difference between having a bias or giving a personal opinion and intentionally insulting a group of people. But to you I guess there isn't.

If you met someone face to face who happened to be a PHP programmer, would you let them know that ostensibly based solely on the language that they happen to be using at the time, you don't consider them a real programmer?

I'm just saying man, it's a slippery slope and one that I actively try to avoid these days.

If you met someone face to face who happened to be a PHP programmer, would you let them know that ostensibly based solely on the language that they happen to be using at the time, you don't consider them a real programmer?

Sure, why not.

Well, possibly because that's a textbook definition of bigotry right there, and I don't feel that bigotry is something we generally need more of. Even if it is - as I suspect in your case - something of an act.

Happening across some of your other posts, you seem to be a person who likes to make sweeping generalisations in the hope of offending someone. I suspect that you're well aware of what you're doing and are doing it intentionally. So I'll wish you good luck with that and be on my way.

Without Lisp, I am nothing :)