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For six years, the Internet Nexus served as my technology blog, but I've since started blogging at the SuperSite Blog instead. If you're looking for the blog, please head there. --Paul

Tuesday, August 05, 2003

Yes, Virginia, Dave Winer is still a jackass
Someone could make a career out of lambasting Dave Winer, but before we thank him for making it so damned easy, let's consider his latest melodrama. The persnickity King of Blogging (tm) picked up a useful little technology called RSS (Really Simple Syndication), which seeks to create a standard for posting content online; it was originally invented at Netscape, and how Winer got control of it is unclear. The wider problem is, RSS isn't perfect, and with a bunch of companies like Google, the W3C, IBM and other seeking to standardize and improve it, Winer turned on the brakes, refusing to allow any changes to the RSS core. Winer, as I've often said, is a jackass. But what's interesting this time is that people are finally admitting they're sick of the little troll, and they want him to quick the baloney and stop harassing people. Winer, predictably isn't amused, like any little kid used to getting his way. "Why has my personality become the issue? They're using that to try to get me to shut up," Winer said in an interview. "I think most people don't have a difficult time working with me. It's unfair. It's untrue. ... You can't create things with flames--you can only tear things down with flames. If they want to create things, they can't do it with the dislike of one person." Ah, but Dave. You can create things with flames. Swords, for example. Things made of metal. Things that can be used to smite the ugliest wart on the Internet and make him ... just ... go ... away. Wouldn't that be sweet?

[ Posted at 8:49 AM | Permalink ]