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July 01, 2003

Rogers Cadenhead is my hero

I posted this comment to the "Leave RSS alone" thread on Mark Pilgrim's weblog:

A word of caution to those of you who think this is funny. As programmers we delight in things that are clever. But most of us are disinclined to use that cleverness in hurtful ways.

You may think that there's plenty of hurtfulness to go around, and you may be right. But consider this. Suppose we posit that all good leaders are bound to offend somebody. How would you rather take it: out in the open with a little name-calling, or craftily and meanly?

Observe carefully what is happening here. This is your future.


It's so disheartening when people are intentionally mean. It blows me away to think that anyone could possibly believe that this reflects well on them. Contrast Mark's problem-solving approach with Rogers Cadenhead's. Now imagine that you had to choose to work with one or the other, say, in a consulting relationship, as a business partner, or on an open source project. I'd pick Rogers in a heartbeat.

Posted by Andrew Grumet at July 1, 2003 09:36 PM | TrackBack | Cosmos

Comments

I just read your comment over on Mark's site, and Rogers's comment. I was very proud to know both of you. Thanks.

Posted by: Dave Winer at July 1, 2003 10:12 PM

Thanks for the comment. Mark's withering satire is creative, but I think he should consider spending a little more time on pro and a little less on con. As I said on Sam Ruby's weblog, it isn't in anyone's best interest for "Echo" to be backwards-compatible with the fights we've been having for years around the subject of RSS.

Posted by: Rogers Cadenhead at July 2, 2003 08:39 AM
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