[bam365]

The Happiness Manifesto? Happiness-driven developers? Enough, already. This is an interesting time for computer programming and computer science in general. We're witnessing the coming of age of a very important profession. We owe it to ourselves to advance this profession by developing a body of knowledge based on scientific, mathematical, and engineering principles, as well as empirical observation of what has worked and what hasn't. What we don't need is cultural manifestos and middle-management buzzwords.

[scottefein12]

We're talking about a community where some of the brightest minds already don't come from a traditional background. Several well-known Rubyists have degrees in Theatre and Music. The community is where all the value is-that's where the innovation is coming from. People build products, so culture is essential.

[carterehsmith]

As for the Theatre and Music... we can see the results... and the results are: Ruby is going from 1% people using it to 0.1%. The people that actually have to make things work have left Ruby.

[oldmanjay]

Ruby has always been a little cultlike in its approach. I don't necessarily mean that as a negative, I'm just not sure what other word I can use - and it's true of so many other platforms as well, it's not solely a Ruby thing by any means.

I've always viewed computers as lowly tools meant to do my bidding, so I don't really understand this sort of emotional attachment that people get, but it's definitely a real thing that people feel. The only pragmatic way forward is to accept that this happens and figure out how to incorporate it into the larger context of software engineering.

[GFK_of_xmaspast]

Has there been a time in the last 50 years that your paragraph wouldn't have been just as appropriate? Why is today, September 4th 2014, special?

[bam365]

No, there really hasn't. And it's a little embarrassing. Lawyers, doctors, carpenters, electricians, engineers, etc. don't feel the need to produce countless rhetorical manifestos. I'm not sure why our profession (or craft, or whatever you want to call it) has to come with so much cultural baggage, especially when there are so many real problems left to be solved.

[toupeira]

I think it's only natural because software development is an intrinsically creative endeavour.

[MrBra]

Unless he had to solve boring problems.