Death to Javascript Rock Stars

http://jquery.com/blog/2008/08/29/death-to-javascript-rock-stars/

by riklomas • 18 years ago

36 31 18 years ago

swombat• 18 years ago

Fantastic and healthy reaction. Glad to see this turnaround on a horrendous initial decision :-)

rglullis4• 18 years ago

To me, this is just to show how nerds are kind of hypocrites when it comes about looks vs substance. They want to believe they are not affected by marketing and focus on actual value, but it all goes down with a simple front page that doesn't state what they want to hear. Or, as in this case, decided to state something that didn't want to hear, because it would make them feel less of part of a elite.

The whole "Ninja" and "Rockstar" thing has become annoying, but only because everyone started using that as a symbol to indicate "programming skills", rendering the expression meaningless in the process. Thing is, Resig and the developers of jQuery are skilled. They have code to show. They have experience developing things with Javascript. Other people are using their code successfully. Those are the only things that really matter.

I don't care if they want to associate their product with "Rockstars" or "Squashed cockroaches stuffing a baked potato", as much as I don't care about the label in my clothing. And if you actually think that what you consume does not define what you are, you shouldn't either.

hassy• 18 years ago

> And if you actually feel that what you consume does not define what you are, you shouldn't either.

But it does, whether you want it to or not. Everything you do shows glimpses of your personality, and your choice not to care about the "label" can reveal just as much about you as paying close attention to it.

rglullis4• 18 years ago

I'm not disputing that.

I'm trying to show that nerds - the "tribe" that is so hung up on rationality and intellectual vanity - are responding emotionally to a marketing action, acting pretty much in the very same way that 14 year-olds would respond if Ambercrombie & Fitch decided to sell the same clothing they always sell, but decorating their stores with Goth skulls and neon lights.

asdflkj• 18 years ago

Most people care about the label on their clothing, and for good reason. Certain brands advertise you as an idiot, and as "one of us" to a particular type of idiots.

rglullis4• 18 years ago

"A decade ago it was cool to wear clothing with a company’s logo splashed all over it. Nike and Gap labels were proudly displayed as badges of honor. These days such clothing is considered laughable; now shoppers want clothes that look unique or vintage (although frequently that 'vintage' tee costs $40). But the underlying motivation remains the same; people are still expressing themselves by the clothes they buy. It doesn’t matter that instead of buying things from big corporations you buy free trade coffee, organic apples, and handmade Guatemalan rugs, you’re still basing your personal identity on your identity as a consumer. You are driven by the desire to consume something first before it is consumed by the masses. It’s the new millennium’s take on 'keeping up with the Jonses'. And it’s just as conformist as it was in the 50’s."

http://artofmanliness.com/2008/08/10/why-being-indie-is-a-bu...

river_styx4• 18 years ago

I don't think you quite get it. Many people who would like to use jQuery have to justify it to a client and/or manager first. That's not very easy to do if the they go to jquery.com and see such a silly and puerile display.

As a developer, I don't give a shit. If they want to put a collection of the world's smelliest cheeses on their front page, that's a-OK by me. But these marketing artifacts absolutely do matter to most of the business types making decisions out there that I have to answer to.

KirinDave4• 18 years ago

Wait, wait, wait.

Who on earth has to justify a javascript framework to their boss? There's so much competition and, unlike in the C++ or Java world, there's no agreement about what's best. Even Microsoft and Google haven't hammered down "the solution". Many projects use 2-3 frameworks.

I've worked at (and am now working at) some pretty big companies, and I've never heard of such a practice moving over to web development. There is usually just a license audit and that's it. And if you're a consultant justifying your use of jquery to your client, you are doing it wrong. They don't care what you use, they care about what licenses you use and how it works when you're done.

I think the complaint itself is "puerile" and pretty darn shallow. The illustration may have been ugly and as one of the original people to have an official job title of "ruby on rails rock star" I'm kind of tired of the metaphor. But I'm not about to throw a giant multi-venue tantrum and poop on the jquery guy's fun.

hs• 18 years ago

along with jquery.ui-1.6b

goodkarma• 18 years ago

I can't believe they had to change this.

jfarmer• 18 years ago

I'm about 95% certain this was how they wanted it to play out. I'm sure yesterday was their highest-traffic day in a long time, possibly ever.

ChaitanyaSai• 18 years ago

Now all the whiners should be asked to wear three-piece suits and bow ties to work because their stained jeans and t-shirts aren't liked by the bosses who work three thousand miles away and will probably never even set eyes on them.

maximilian• 18 years ago

This is some terrible inside joke I'm totally not getting. I went to the site yesterday, and it totally looks the same as it did today. What exactly was the easter egg?

riklomas• 18 years ago

You missed the Rock Star illustration: http://jquery.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/jquerycom....

wayne• 18 years ago

For the easter egg, go to the jQuery homepage and type in the Konami Code (up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, b, a). Pretty awesome... I love easter eggs.

vnorby• 18 years ago

That's actually a pretty solid idea. Skirt music copyrights by using YouTube music videos for an online Guitar Hero clone...JamLegend, take note.

SingAlong• 18 years ago

I have a doubt. I read about the Konami Code on wikipedia.

But on my computer's keyboard what keys do I press for A and B?

sofal• 18 years ago

I used to work for a corporation whose only concern was with image. They were much happier to pay thousands of dollars to terrible software vendors simply because the vendors projected themselves as corporate-friendly "professionals" with "enterprise-ready solutions". I had an extremely hard time justifying using software written by Zed Shaw for obvious reasons. "It's all about the image," said a co-worker to me, "how long have you worked here and you haven't figured that out yet?"

I hope I never have to work at a place like that again.

The bigger problem lies in the artificial culture of "professionalism" that permeates so many workplaces to the detriment of things with real substance to them.

That being said, I think the jQuery people are wise to listen to the community about things like this.

martythemaniak• 18 years ago

I'm curious where this meme is heading. First it was ninja, then a rockstar, then what? Be a Q Quarterback! Looking for ActionScript Astronauts and C Cosmonauts! We need Ocaml Olympians and Tcl Titans!!!

I had a phone interview a few days ago where the other person used a line like "we're looking for ninja developers". I mean, its silly when you see it written, and its 100x more so when someone says it out loud.

anamax• 18 years ago

What about Pirates?

Death to Javascript Rock Stars

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