A word about _why, Whyday, and Hackety Hack
Today is Whyday. A programmerās holiday. Today is the day that we donāt forget that programming isnāt all Agile and driven by behavior and Serious Business. Inside each cubicle, the hacker spirit is trying to burst free. Today, it will.
Today, Iām also releasing a prerelease version of Hackety Hack 1.0. Itās been a long time coming. The announcement of Whyday got me thinking about the past year of a world without _why, and the āyour domain is about to expireā notices got me thinking about how Iāve now been the head of the Hackety Hack project for almost 12 months, too. I donāt like thinking about this, because I almost let _why down.
I never met _why. I canāt really claim to know him, or know what his intentions were, but I think about him a lot. ā_whyā the persona, really embodies everything that I love about software. The world owes _why a great debt, and Iād like to think that Iām doing what I can to repay him.
At least, I am now. I donāt like to think about roughly 6 or 8 months of the last year of Hackety Hack; I did an exceptionally poor job of being a steward. Being alone, having no help, and having a bit of an identity crisis is an excuse; you can decide if itās a good or poor one. But things have been looking up, and weāve got some momentum, I owe a great debt to Fela for helping make this summer happen.
I really do feel that the Little Coder still has a predicament, and Iām almost to the point where they can find some solace. I still feel that Hackety Hack could become an absolutely invauable project, Iāve just got to keep going. I can, I will, and I am. But I wouldnāt be able to if so many people didnāt care, say a nice world, or lend a hand.
So thanks. And as ashbb would say, āLetās all have fun with Hackety Hack!ā
Happy Whyday.
EDIT: The release is now out. See the announcement here, and get it here.
Thanks!