# I'm writing an article about Rails and I need help **URL:** \ **Category:** Rails\ **Created:** [May 4, 2006, 11:32am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/im-writing-an-article-about-rails-and-i-need-help/59581 "2006-05-04T11:32:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Net\_F](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/n/3da27b/32.png) [@Net\_F](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Net_F)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2006, 11:32am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/im-writing-an-article-about-rails-and-i-need-help/59581/1 "2006-05-04T11:32:13Z")
Hi to everybody, I’m writing an article about Ruby on Rails and I need to gather some information about the project and the community of core developers. In particular I’d like to know something about the organization of the project (how are decisions taken, who decides what goes into the project, conflict resolution, contributions acceptance…) and something more technical (development languages (if any, other than Ruby), tools, software engineering techniques, versions control…). Someone can help me? Or I can send an email directly to David Heinemeier Hansson? ---
**Author:** ![Net\_F](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/n/3da27b/32.png) [@Net\_F](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Net_F)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2006, 12:54pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/im-writing-an-article-about-rails-and-i-need-help/59581/2 "2006-05-04T12:54:11Z")
On 5/4/06, Net F. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > Hi to everybody, I’m writing an article about Ruby on Rails and I need > to gather some information about the project and the community of core > developers. In particular I’d like to know something about the > organization of the project (how are decisions taken, who decides what > goes into the project, conflict resolution, contributions acceptance…) > and something more technical (development languages (if any, other than > Ruby), tools, software engineering techniques, versions control…). > Someone can help me? Or I can send an email directly to David Heinemeier > Hansson? You should post this question to the Rails-core mailing list. [http://www.ruby-forum.com/forum/16](http://www.ruby-forum.com/forum/16) Curt ---
**Author:** ![Net\_F](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/n/3da27b/32.png) [@Net\_F](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Net_F)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2006, 1:14pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/im-writing-an-article-about-rails-and-i-need-help/59581/3 "2006-05-04T13:14:47Z")
Thanks for the hint ---
**Author:** ![Net\_F](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/n/3da27b/32.png) [@Net\_F](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Net_F)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2006, 10:39pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/im-writing-an-article-about-rails-and-i-need-help/59581/4 "2006-05-04T22:39:48Z")
Also check out the Ruby on Rails podcasts… [http://podcast.rubyonrails.com](http://podcast.rubyonrails.com) Some great information in there. Something that might make a good image for your article – at Canada on Rails, practically the first thing DHH did when he got on stage was show a slide which listed every contributor to Rails. Definitely an open source success story. And actually I came across a parallel which might be interesting for you too, although it is kind of incredibly random. It’s from a book called “The Undercover Economist” and it has to do with what an economist thinks of when he sees somebody drinking a cappuccino: "Your coffee is intriguing to the economist for another reason: he doesn’t know how to make a cappuccino, and he knows that nobody else does either. Who, after all, could boast of being able to grow, pick, roast, and blend coffee, raise and milk cows, roll steel and mold plastics and assemble them into an espresso machine, and, finally, shape ceramics into a cute mug? Your cappuccino reflects the outcome of a system of staggering complexity. There isn’t a single person in the world who could produce what it takes to make a cappuccino. The economist knows that the cappuccino is the product of an incredible team effort. Not only that, there is nobody in charge of the team. Economist Paul Seabright reminds us of the pleas of the Soviet official trying to comprehend the western system: “Tell me…who is in charge of the supply of bread to the population of London?” The question is comical, but the answer – nobody – is dizzying." That really describes every open source project – an incredible team effort with nobody **really** in charge of the team. It’s funny, because it means that in a sense, free software development mirrors the workings of the capitalist free market **more** than commercial software development does. – Giles B. [http://www.gilesgoatboy.org](http://www.gilesgoatboy.org) ---
**Author:** ![Net\_F](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/n/3da27b/32.png) [@Net\_F](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Net_F)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2006, 9:25pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/im-writing-an-article-about-rails-and-i-need-help/59581/5 "2006-05-05T21:25:40Z")
Giles B. wrote: > Also check out the Ruby on Rails podcasts… > > [http://podcast.rubyonrails.com](http://podcast.rubyonrails.com) > > Some great information in there. thanks > who is in charge of the supply of bread to the population of > London?" The question is comical, but the answer – nobody – is > dizzying." Like a bazaar (see Eric Raymond’s famous article), where you can find bread even if nobody centrally planned to make the bread appear every morning in the bazaar. Nice the story of the cappuccino, in any case, the fact that every object (a pen, a hammer…) is a “crystal” of work of millions of people, including the past generations, was said for the first time by Karl Marx 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Net\_F](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/n/3da27b/32.png) [@Net\_F](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Net_F)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2006, 10:45pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/im-writing-an-article-about-rails-and-i-need-help/59581/6 "2006-05-04T22:45:49Z")
Hey Article Guy – sorry forgot your name dude – also check this out: [http://server1.sxsw.com/2006/coverage/SXSW06.INT.20060311.Opening.Remarks.mp3](http://server1.sxsw.com/2006/coverage/SXSW06.INT.20060311.Opening.Remarks.mp3) This is an extremely excellent podcast about the business perspective behind 37Signals, the business where Rails was created. Although it’s tangential to Rails itself, it’ll give you a great deal of perspective about where Rails came from. – Giles B. [http://www.gilesgoatboy.org](http://www.gilesgoatboy.org)