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Can’t we all get along … or failing that, just shut up?

8 comments on Can’t we all get along … or failing that, just shut up?

Can’t we all get along … or failing that, just shut up?
: I think I speak for many (read: most) bloggers when I say that we don’t really give a shit about the RSS v. Echo wars.

Most mortals — and now that weblogs are widespread, remember that most bloggers are now mortals, not warrior geeks — still don’t fully understand what RSS is or what it does, least of all what it stands for (either version). That doesn’t mean we won’t use it or its variants and depend on them; that doesn’t mean that XML and RSS and Echo are not revolutionary and better than sex. But that’s not the point.

If the leaders of the blogging world keep on fighting about this, it will hurt everyone — not just because there will be confusion about standards and compliance and how and where to get the data and functionality you need but also because it will continue to doom “blogging” to the world of greasy-haired geekdom, not mass-market significance.

So I don’t give a damn who’s right and who’s wrong. I don’t give a damn who started it. I don’t give a damn who’s screwing whom.

I have just one message for all of you:

SHUT UP ALREADY!

This fight is getting to be embarrassing and certainly unproductive and probably destructive. It’s tiresome and childish and wearying.

So find a way to get along.

Or some big company will just come in and do it for you.

8 responses to “Can’t we all get along … or failing that, just shut up?”

  1. Towering Pant-Load Avatar
    Towering Pant-Load

    whaa?

  2. MommaBear Avatar
    MommaBear

    Isn’t that a bit like asking, Ford, GM, and Chrysler to get along?
    :-)

  3. Umm Avatar
    Umm

    So, how do you think software is usually built? A bunch of yes-men sitting around the table in total agreement with each other?
    Passions may run high in this particular instance but don’t think it’s a special case. It’s just that it’s happening in the ‘open’ world of blogging. Sit back and enjoy it, or ignore it, but don’t try to squash it.

  4. joy Avatar
    joy

    Don’t worry Jeff, I don’t read your blog for your take on all things technical.
    From my perspective, even though I don’t code, I’m glad to see an open development process. I’m glad to see the thought and the viewpoints and goals of the creators in this endeavor. Even for an end user, this is helpful since it’ll give one an extra edge when evaluating products that might (or might not) adopt this spec.
    Also, here’s a thought for you. Some of the earliest “blogs” from a few years ago (even though they weren’t called blogs and didn’t use special software, read the first part of Halley Suitt’s READ ME for an elegant explanation) were actually created by programmers and other technically minded people to do things like jot down release notes, keep track of development, complain about the boss, etc. So, why is this open development process so shocking now?

  5. xian Avatar
    xian

    Yes, by all means, let’s squelch free debate in the blogosphere, because it will, uh, hurt blogging.
    Much better to do the deals in smoke-filled rooms and stop confusing ordinary people with all this technickle stuff.
    Hey, I thought the point of blogging was that it was easy to ignore the stuff you don’t really give a shit about?

  6. Jeff Jarvis Avatar
    Jeff Jarvis

    It’s not the free technical debate that’s bothering me. It’s the pesonal sniping that’s getting out of hand, way out of hand. I chose not to link to what I was seeing so as not to give it more traffic. But this soap opera is getting to be more melodramatic than a network reality show.

  7. joy Avatar
    joy

    Jeff, that’s a good point. But I can’t say that the sniping is all that unprecendented or unusual for that matter, especially knowing what has occurred in the past on newsgroups, technical boards and online places like those. (Where do you think the terms “flame”, “troll” and “asbestos suit” come from?)
    The troubling part though is that the discussion isn’t merely among some random programmers on a newsgroup.

  8. Asparagirl Avatar
    Asparagirl

    Yeah. All the bad habits of USENET are now all the bad habits of blogging.