I understand your point, but they don't own the hq suffix. I see many sites these days with the join or get prefix. The fact is, as any of you know who've spent the hours at your favorite domain query tool, it's getting near impossible to find anything. I see more sites using dashes or resorting to .net, .org, or .me (myself included). It's just the current state of things.
You're looking for someone who is a fan of the same progr. lang. as you are, who uses the same text editor, the same VCS, and even the same libraries/frameworks. You're looking for a designer who uses the same version of Photoshop that you're using, or at least uses the version you think he/she should be using.
Yes, agree with both posts. You shouldn't care what language or library he's using.
There aren't "Ruby programmers", there are just programmers. I honestly try to stay away from people who claim they are language x programmers and those who think one language is superior, because quite frankly they're often not that good.
Honestly are Ruby programmers really better than those who code in C or haskell and honestly what does it matter which text editor I choose to use?!
What would you learn if he knows and use the same things as you? Wouldn't it be a lot better, and a lot cooler, if your roommate could teach you about compilers, creating games or advanced algorithms or something that you don't know already?
It's a great idea to get a roommate with similar interests, but really I think you're focusing on the wrong things.
Way to go and miss the point. I said that he might know something that you don't know which could be nice to learn, or are you seriously saying that you know everything?
I'm sorry that I offended you, I didn't doubt your knowledge.
And my point wasn't that he must only know ruby, but that you should focus more on programming skills and not focus on a specific language. A competent programmer should be able to jump between languages with relative ease as long as they have some related skill.
I guess I started thinking about a friend of my when I read your post. He's someone who says C is the best language in the world, poet is the only worthwhile site on the web and everyone who didn't use linux was bad and wrong. Different opinions was never allowed and he was right all the time.
Maybe it's me but maybe the post does give out a little smugness, like saying you want (prefer) him to love textmate.
No you haven't offended me... and I haven't missed your point either.
But I do feel like you are putting words in my mouth: "are you seriously saying that you know everything"
Where the hell did you see myself saying that?
If you read my other replies - I said I have an intense passion for learning. This means I do learn from other people than myself.
You're right... A competent programmer should be able to jump between languages.
I don't think Ruby is the best programming language in the world - but it has suited me well for what I'm doing and allows me to iterate through development cycles quickly with ease, plus there is a large community built around it in San Francisco.
When something better for the job comes along I'll pick it up just as quickly.
Initially I asked you if there isn't something your roommate could teach you which would be good and I gave the examples compilers, creating games or advanced algorithms.
Where you responded What makes you think I don't already know about compilers, algorithms and game creation?
This I read as a you're being offended and/or missing my question or as if you're telling me that you already know everything about compilers and the something (which alas is everything).
It's great that you like to learn, just like me, and I think it's a great opportunity to learn and to get a roommate who knows a lot of good funky stuff. This is also why I don't think purely focusing on programmers who knows Ruby is a good idea, instead you should focus on good programmers who know stuff you'd like to learn.
I don't want to pick on Ruby, in fact I think it's great.
isn't something your roommate could teach you which would be good and I gave the examples
In many ways two specialists in the same area can teach each other far more things than two specialists in different areas. The problem is until you know a lot learning from a wiki is often the best approach, however the more you know about say java script the more things you can learn with that foundation.
Think of it this way, how long would you need to spend with tiger woods before he becomes significantly more useful than the average golf instructor. And how does that change as you go from a beginner to the pro level.
The fact that you seem to be getting a little upset pretty quickly by the criticism in this thread probably says more about you as a roommate than the tools you use. I'm past my roommate days thankfully, but take it easy dude!
Because you can talk/discuss something other than computer science / software development to them, hence you would not be limit your learnings in one direction.
I, for one, would not like to bring what I do for living to my home. If I need to discuss my CS ideas, I can find likeminded people at other places, (say where I work/study), but living with "like minded" people 24 X 7, is not something I'd like to do. (Unless I am starting a startup or something)
You are severely oversimplifying people. There is nothing that prevents a software developer from writing poetry, or a poet from designing websites. Interesting people have a wide range of hobbies and interests.
1. You should not live with your co-founder(s). It's important that you can take breaks from the startup/each other by going home.
2. You should be friends with your co-founder(s), but not "best friends". A startup is a bussiness relationship which is incompatible with "best friendship".
This is my experience based on doing my own startup and watching others.
I don't have to look far for a counter-example: reddit. From the articles and interviews I've seen, I think rooming together was a very important part of reddit culture early on.
It’s not really necessary to have the newest and greatest CS. Many designers I know skip a version or two and they generally tread carefully (i.e. take their time) when transitioning. Don’t judge designers by the version of the CS they are using :)
First and foremost, it's about making like-minded friends and reliable roommates.
Ideally, the goal is the create a valuable development team in the process - and then take on fun and creative projects through opportunities like ycombinator and kickstarter.
That being said, I am a Ruby developer. I do think that anyone I pair-program with should be familiar with Ruby.
However, I am not tied to the constraint that I have a roommate that is a Ruby developer.
The Ruby requirement makes plenty of sense to me. But the Textmate/Heroku/rspec criteria make for a pretty tight Venn diagram, especially since you should be looking for someone who doesn't think exactly like you do. And do you really care if your roommate uses a different text editor than you do?
I've updated the website to say Textmate is preferred rather than required.
The "heroku ftw!" remark is just a deployment option that I added in there to express my feelings towards the company. Technically it doesn't matter what platform we work on. I just happen to find them to be a rather unique and creative service that suits my needs.
As far as RSpec - it's a matter of personal preference, but again... technically it doesn't matter.
Anyone who doesn't meet the requirements EXACTLY should not feel unwelcome in sending me an email :)
Learning a new technology isn't really that big of a deal anyway. What if somebody introduces you to a technology that is better suited to solve a problem?
I agree. I don't know if you checked out the link, but I designed and coded that in about one hour. I may not be a designer - but I definitely speak their language!
