REBOL Technologies

REBOL/Services Released. Yep, Finally.

Carl Sassenrath, CTO
REBOL Technologies
9-Nov-2005 1:07 GMT

Article #0218
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Finally, the first test release is out. Here is the main REBOL/Services page. It includes links to demos, documents, and FAQ. Yes, there's much more to do, but you can get up to speed with what is provided.

So, why did it take so long? A lot of the code was created a year ago and substantially finished in spring 2005. Why is it just being released now?

I have to be absolutely honest with you. The question runs deep for me. To understand my answer, read The Courage to Create by Rollo May. I've not picked it up for 30 years, but I can boil the philosophy down to this: It is very difficult to create something new; but, it is very easy to criticize it. An architect spends five years designing a new city hall. What do people say? It's horrible. It's a monstrosity. You know that pattern?

As you build something new, you like to think it is a good design... but, the best designers always ask themselves: Is it good enough? Creating something, anything, takes a degree of courage. Rollo May says it takes great courage. I think some things require more courage than others. When I created REBOL, I did not really care what people thought of it. It was an experiment. Slam it, smash it, burn it, or even act like Larry Wall. But, now that REBOL has been around for a while, I care deeply about it. Those of us who muster up the courage to create often get to live in our own special hell. Such a pleasant reward for all that pain of creation.

Guy Kawasaki, whom I know and trust, put it this way: Ship it! Don't wait. Release soon and revise often. He even wrote a book I highly recommend called Rules For Revolutionaries. (Ah, there's that rebolution word again.)

But, sometimes practicing that philosophy is a lot harder than you think. REBOL/Services was that way for me. I don't totally understand why. But, now it's out, and it's open licensed. If you want to improve it, you are free to do so. Will I criticize your changes? That is difficult to say. But, I will greatly respect the fact that you actually did something. That's more than most people. You had the courage to create.

PS: I don't apply any of the above to Microsoft designs. When you are making that much money, you had better get it right. So, feel free to slam MS. (Like my article below.)

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