Hi all,
As this is the one month anniversary of uf-rest, I wanted to take a
few moments to welcome the new "RESTafarains" [1] and help you get
acclimatized. I presume everyone has seen the wiki:
http://microformats.org/wiki/rest
and the archive:
http://microformats.org/discuss/mail/microformats-rest/2005-November/
That should hopefully give you the *technical* background. However,
there's also a certain *philosophical* attitude [2] that undergirds
this project, which might be a little confusing if you haven't
experienced it before. While a Zen Koan [3] would arguably be a more
appropriate format, I'll cheat and give you my brief (if incomplete
and subjective) summary of the salient cultural distinctives:
A. Value Humans
This isn't just about the social dynamics of the mailing list (though
it is that); rather, it is the guiding principle of the entire
endeavor. The goal is to build technology systems that support the
way humans naturally work, rather than trying to make humans act like
(or worse, serve) machines. While this may seems hopelessly utopian,
it actually flows naturally from...
B. Build The Simplest Thing That Works (TSTTW)
"Perfection is achieved not when there is nothing more to add, but
nothing left to take away." Note that this is NOT a call for
mindless simplicity, but rather for a clear understanding of the
mininum actually needed to "work" in real life (vs. "boiling the
ocean"). Which leads me to...
C. Burn Ego to Buy Understanding
In my world, at least, "ego" is abundant, but "understanding" is
scarce. A successful RESTafarain has plenty of ego (we are trying to
change the world, over all :-), but values understanding above all
else. Thus, he/she is willing to ask dumb questions, change their
mind, and do the tedious homework necessary to find and justify the
"right" answer -- rather than trying to pontificate from a position
of supposed superiority.
Like everything else, these are informative, not definitive: feedback
and comments are actively encouraged! I look forward to hearing from
and interacting with all of you. We're still in the early stages,
but I believe this will ultimately become an epic and powerful
journey. I am grateful for the chance to share it with you.
Sincerely,
-- Dr. Ernie
uf-REST Moderator
[1] As far as I know, the term "RESTafarains" was first coined by
David Hansson.
[2] Inherited Principles
Microformats Principles:
http://microformats.org/wiki/microformats#the_microformats_principles
http://microformats.org/about/
REST Principles:
http://www.ics.uci.edu/~fielding/pubs/dissertation/rest_arch_style.htm
http://www.xfront.com/REST-Web-Services.html
Comparisons:
http://www.windley.com/archives/2005/07/microformats.shtml
http://www.justinleavesley.com/journal/2005/7/28/web-services-and-the-
innovators-dilemma.html
[3] http://www.lisp.org/humor/ai-koans.html
------------
Ernest N. Prabhakar, Ph.D. <drernie at opendarwin.org>
Ex-Physicist, Marketing Weenie, and Dilettante Hacker
Probe-Hacker blog: http://www.opendarwin.org/~drernie
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