Earlier this month, Phil Rignalda wrote a post titled "Planetary Damage," the damage being that individuals like Danny Ayers don't feel the need to write about things that show up on sites like Planet RDF. I, like Phil, read Danny and Shelley Powers but not Planet RDF, so if Danny or Shelley don't write about something in the world of RDF, I don't read it. Planet sites run the risk of forming closed communities in which the only people reading about a technology are those already using it. And that's one form of planetary damage
I experienced another sort today when something I wrote (which I thought was about screencasts) made its way onto Planet Lisp. My comments on Lisp weren't altogether positive, and that brought the fanboys out to tell me how evil I am for hating Lisp. The thing is, I don't hate Lisp. I don't even care about Lisp. I know next to nothing about Lisp. I certainly don't belong on Planet Lisp. Planet PHP, maybe. Planet JavaScript would be a stretch. But Planet Lisp? That's just ridiculous. In this case, I wish the community were a bit more closed, with the only people writing about a technology being those who are already using it.
I hope this experience (And the slime video) don't prevent you from trying lisp.. if anything, you'll increase readership of your blog :). (loved the amen beat video .. friend of mine has the 45).
It'd be interesting to see screencasts for other development environments and how they compare, though. The screencast you have picked is more of a SLIME-howto than a Lisp demonstration. Granted SLIME is bleeding edge and needs emacs keyboard dancing, but the actual functionality is impressive.
I think the DSL screencast is a much better Lisp advert. ;-)
It's dismissive, misleading comments you made similar to this one (who exactly called you evil?) that brought out the SmugLispWeenies. What did you expect? Just because anyone and his grandma can start a blog now doesn't mean people shouldn't take care in the things they say. Otherwise, expect some pushback.