Jon Pretty

I was privileged to receive advance notification from @typelevel about @jdegoes's ban a day earlier, along with further information about the motivation and process leading up to the ban, which was not shared publicly. However, I dispute several of the assertions made. /3

Firstly, strong claims are made that @jdegoes is deterring potential new contributors to @typelevel projects. The message I received offered evidence of @jdegoes's malfeasance, and cited three GitHub references. I took the time to read these in full and understand them. /4

Given the free choice from @jdegoes's entire history on GitHub, the three references chosen as the best evidence of his bad online behavior were very weak. They are conversations which focus almost entirely on technical discussions. It reads like ordinary online communication. /5

I have no doubt that in the context of months of tedious discussion with @jdegoes, over the same technical issues, that it could be genuinely frustrating for the participants of the discussion. The irritation felt by the contributors is genuine, and nobody should doubt that. /7

But this irritation appears to be exclusively afflicting the existing clique of core Cats Effect maintainers. This is backed up by @typelevel's own argument that the draining experience of talking to @jdegoes online must be taken in the context of many months of interactions. /8

This undermines the claim, made several times in the advance email I received, that @jdegoes is deterring *new* contributors, if the annoyance at his communication style can only be perceived after months of exposure to it. /9

Instead, @jdegoes has developed a reputation for being "inspirational". I sense that even this can be a particular irritation if you don't like him, but there is ample evidence that @jdegoes has attracted many new contributors to Scala projects. /10

So I find it disingenuous that @typelevel are presenting their own distaste at @jdegoes's online style as having "prevented countless other contributors from stepping forward for fear of reprisal..." This appears to be unfounded speculation. /11

If you have a personal problem with @jdegoes, then damn well take ownership of your inability to work with a difficult person, rather than laying it at the door of unknown, unnamed hypothetical contributors. /12

The claim has also been made repeatedly that @jdegoes has failed to change despite numerous warnings and criticism. As someone who has passed plenty of criticism onto @jdegoes, I have been looking avidly for just such a change. /13

And there's plenty of evidence: If you watch videos of @jdegoes recorded after his keynote at @scalapeno_conf, you will struggle to find a single word or phrase to criticize. That's a change which came about in response to criticism. It's wilful blindness if you don't see it. /14

Why does this make me so angry? I've just finished organizing Scala World, a conference of 250 attendees, who had a fantastic time meeting, discussing, learning and sharing ideas around the Scala language, upon which I've based my entire career. /15

I've been working my arse off to try to bring people together for a few days of friendly collaboration, which I do for love, not for profit, as many other conference organizers do. @jdegoes was there, he enhanced the conference with his presence, and everyone had a good time. /16

Despite this, the Scala community has developed a bad reputation for "drama". That's a reputation which @typelevel are well aware of, and which has been hugely damaging to the language: orders of magnitude more damaging than @jdegoes, before you even count his contributions. /17

And yesterday's action against @jdegoes knowingly stokes this fire because a handful (and it is just a handful; not speculative hordes) of people can't work with @jdegoes. The action is divisive, selfish, and it's entirely predictable that few positives will come from it. /18

Like me, @jdegoes earns a living through Scala. He's not going to "disappear" overnight, or stop his self-promotion any more than @lightbend are, because we all rely on it to be profitable, and anyone can see this. /19

Scala is approaching an exciting but challenging period of change. We're about to get a whole host of new features which will enable us to write smarter, more elegant, more expressive code. We're at the forefront of technology, and it's going to be usable in Scala 3 soon. /20

And yet, after these two coincidental actions against @jdegoes in as many days, for the first time in over a decade, I have found myself considering whether I really want to be a part of this community. After the enjoyment of Scala World, it's sobering and even depressing. /21

As I already said, my entire career has been based around Scala. If the actions of @typelevel and @skillsmatter are making *me* reconsider that choice, then how do they look to a developer who hasn't invested nearly so much of their life into this language? /22

But the actions are unlikely to be reversed. @typelevel will inevitably continue to do a lot of good work for the community, and I shall continue to support their positive contributions, though they shall be forever tainted by yesterday's self-indulgent decision. /23