Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.

Re: Open Office

Author:Dave Winer
Posted:8/24/2000; 8:00:12 AM
Topic:scriptingNews outline for 8/23/2000
Msg #:20086 (In response to 20014)
Prev/Next:20085 / 20087

Honestly, I think the people working on "RSS 1.0" are going to feel left out when the dust settles. Trying to read other peoples' minds is a dangerous business, imho you usually succeed at reading your own mind. Put yourself behind an idea wall and no new ideas penetrate, eventually the barking-farting-chihuahua idea is going to sink in, usually sometime around the end of your 30s, or earlier if you get divorced or have a parent die or have a life-threatening illness or something like that. I feel lucky that I almost died of peritonitis at age 9. That experience gave me a unique perspective on the barking-farting thing that most 9-year-olds don't get. I am lucky because I survived. Now at 45 my body is always telling me I'm a fool. You'll get there too and it'll change the way you look at this stuff.

I know a lot of young people don't like to hear about getting older. Too bad. Us old farts do think we know more. If you love us we can have fun. I had a business angel at Living Videotext, Bill Jordan, who used to poke fun at me. "I've forgotten more than you'll ever know," he liked to say to us young folk. He was an inspiration. To me, before knowing Bill, I thought all old people were jerks. Then I could see that we can have fun, even cross-generational fun.

I like you Cam, even though we get into these struggles all the time. I've changed, you'll see. I no longer choose to struggle. So much of the bullshit with O'Reilly has been about whether I get to be included. I want to thank them for reminding me that it's a stupid struggle. Look at all that we have been able to accomplish now that I don't give a shit what they think of me. The leash tries to re-attach. Don't say that or they'll get angry. Well O'Reilly doesn't rule the world. They're barking farting chihuauhas too. They do excellent books and run conferences. If they want to write books and run conferences about my software, that would be great. If they choose not to, that's their loss, not mine. I'm tired of politics. I remembered what drives this business, it's software, not books and conferences.




This page was archived on 6/13/2001; 4:56:13 PM.

© Copyright 1998-2001 UserLand Software, Inc.