# Why's Poignant Guide to Ruby, Chapter Five: Them What Make the Rules and Them What Live the Dream

**URL:** <https://rubytalk.org/t/whys-poignant-guide-to-ruby-chapter-five-them-what-make-the-rules-and-them-what-live-the-dream/13712>\
**Category:** ruby-talk\
**Created:** [21 September 2004 18:20 UTC](https://rubytalk.org/t/whys-poignant-guide-to-ruby-chapter-five-them-what-make-the-rules-and-them-what-live-the-dream/13712 "2004-09-21T18:20:06Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![why\_the\_lucky\_stiff1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/898d66/32.png) [@why\_the\_lucky\_stiff1](https://rubytalk.org/u/why_the_lucky_stiff1)\
**Post date:** [21 September 2004 18:20 UTC](https://rubytalk.org/t/whys-poignant-guide-to-ruby-chapter-five-them-what-make-the-rules-and-them-what-live-the-dream/13712/1 "2004-09-21T18:20:06Z")

</div>

Beloved friends and key witnesses: Holy highkick! I (at last) present  
chapter five!

Fifty-two pages of spooky new adventures in Ruby. This is a big one  
for me: the book is now halfway. And I guarantee to you that -- should  
you read -- you will be in a new place, wading in the schemings of pygmy  
elephants and deer with powdered wigs.

Travel now and read: [http://poignantguide.net/ruby/](http://poignantguide.net/ruby/)

What is the (Poignant) Guide? I am here to tell you that it is a very  
obscure book, a minor ripple in the orchestrations of mankind, a  
scattered amalgamation of inky blotches and ridiculous code fragments --  
at best -- a transcription of animal software from the original  
woodblock prints. And I haven't meant to corrupt the text with my  
snivelling biographies, but it has happened already, what can be  
done?

A printable HTML version is available as well. You'll find a link to it  
and instructions for printing in Firefox at the Guide's site. Be aware,  
it's large as a squirrel heaven. Let it load, let it.

Well, cheerio. Thankyou to Matz for his excellent resource "Ruby in a  
Nutshell". It's the employee handbook here at the plant.

\_why

---

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**Author:** ![David\_Ross2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ed8c4c/32.png) [@David\_Ross2](https://rubytalk.org/u/David_Ross2)\
**Post date:** [21 September 2004 18:44 UTC](https://rubytalk.org/t/whys-poignant-guide-to-ruby-chapter-five-them-what-make-the-rules-and-them-what-live-the-dream/13712/2 "2004-09-21T18:44:31Z")

</div>

Very nice \_why. I like reading your sites often. My  
favorite topic is "bread man". Your guide is most  
excellent, keep it up 🙂

--dross

--- why the lucky stiff

> **···**
>
> \<ruby-talk@whytheluckystiff.net\> wrote:
> 
> > Beloved friends and key witnesses: Holy highkick! I  
> > (at last) present  
> > chapter five!
> > 
> > Fifty-two pages of spooky new adventures in Ruby.  
> > This is a big one  
> > for me: the book is now halfway. And I guarantee to  
> > you that -- should  
> > you read -- you will be in a new place, wading in  
> > the schemings of pygmy  
> > elephants and deer with powdered wigs.
> > 
> > Travel now and read: [http://poignantguide.net/ruby/](http://poignantguide.net/ruby/)
> > 
> > What is the (Poignant) Guide? I am here to tell you  
> > that it is a very  
> > obscure book, a minor ripple in the orchestrations  
> > of mankind, a  
> > scattered amalgamation of inky blotches and  
> > ridiculous code fragments --  
> > at best -- a transcription of animal software from  
> > the original  
> > woodblock prints. And I haven't meant to corrupt  
> > the text with my  
> > snivelling biographies, but it has happened already,  
> > what can be  
> > done?
> > 
> > A printable HTML version is available as well.  
> > You'll find a link to it  
> > and instructions for printing in Firefox at the  
> > Guide's site. Be aware,  
> > it's large as a squirrel heaven. Let it load, let  
> > it.
> > 
> > Well, cheerio. Thankyou to Matz for his excellent  
> > resource "Ruby in a  
> > Nutshell". It's the employee handbook here at the  
> > plant.
> > 
> > \_why
> 
> \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_  
> Do you Yahoo!?  
> Declare Yourself - Register online to vote today!  
> [http://vote.yahoo.com](http://vote.yahoo.com)

---

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**Author:** ![Kaspar\_Schiess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/d78d45/32.png) [@Kaspar\_Schiess](https://rubytalk.org/u/Kaspar_Schiess)\
**Post date:** [21 September 2004 23:05 UTC](https://rubytalk.org/t/whys-poignant-guide-to-ruby-chapter-five-them-what-make-the-rules-and-them-what-live-the-dream/13712/3 "2004-09-21T23:05:40Z")

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Most brilliant again, why. Thank you.

kaspar

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**Author:** ![Lennon\_Day-Reynolds1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Lennon\_Day-Reynolds1](https://rubytalk.org/u/Lennon_Day-Reynolds1)\
**Post date:** [21 September 2004 18:46 UTC](https://rubytalk.org/t/whys-poignant-guide-to-ruby-chapter-five-them-what-make-the-rules-and-them-what-live-the-dream/13712/4 "2004-09-21T18:46:59Z")

</div>

...and the list goes silent for an hour, as everyone takes another  
vacation into why's bizarre universe.

Crazy as always, why.

> **···**
>
> --  
> Lennon  
> [rcoder.net](http://rcoder.net)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![why\_the\_lucky\_stiff1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/898d66/32.png) [@why\_the\_lucky\_stiff1](https://rubytalk.org/u/why_the_lucky_stiff1)\
**Post date:** [22 September 2004 14:55 UTC](https://rubytalk.org/t/whys-poignant-guide-to-ruby-chapter-five-them-what-make-the-rules-and-them-what-live-the-dream/13712/5 "2004-09-22T14:55:56Z")

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Thanks, David, Kaspar, Lennon, Gavin. If any of you have some counsel for improving the teaching employed so far, head over to the poignant-stiffs list: \<[http://rubyforge.org/mailman/listinfo/poignant-stiffs&gt](http://rubyforge.org/mailman/listinfo/poignant-stiffs&gt);

I could really use some input. Is anyone actually learning Ruby through the book? Also: got any ideas for getting it out to people who wouldn't normally read a manual?

\_why

David Ross wrote:

> **···**
>
> > Very nice \_why. I like reading your sites often. My  
> > favorite topic is "bread man". Your guide is most  
> > excellent, keep it up 🙂
> > 
> > --dross
> > 
> > --- why the lucky stiff  
> > \<ruby-talk@whytheluckystiff.net\> wrote:
> > 
> > > Beloved friends and key witnesses: Holy highkick! I  
> > > (at last) present  
> > > chapter five!
> > > 
> > > Fifty-two pages of spooky new adventures in Ruby. This is a big one  
> > > for me: the book is now halfway. And I guarantee to  
> > > you that -- should  
> > > you read -- you will be in a new place, wading in  
> > > the schemings of pygmy  
> > > elephants and deer with powdered wigs.
> > > 
> > > Travel now and read: [http://poignantguide.net/ruby/](http://poignantguide.net/ruby/)
> > > 
> > > What is the (Poignant) Guide? I am here to tell you  
> > > that it is a very  
> > > obscure book, a minor ripple in the orchestrations  
> > > of mankind, a  
> > > scattered amalgamation of inky blotches and  
> > > ridiculous code fragments --  
> > > at best -- a transcription of animal software from  
> > > the original  
> > > woodblock prints. And I haven't meant to corrupt  
> > > the text with my  
> > > snivelling biographies, but it has happened already,  
> > > what can be  
> > > done?
> > > 
> > > A printable HTML version is available as well. You'll find a link to it  
> > > and instructions for printing in Firefox at the  
> > > Guide's site. Be aware,  
> > > it's large as a squirrel heaven. Let it load, let  
> > > it.
> > > 
> > > Well, cheerio. Thankyou to Matz for his excellent  
> > > resource "Ruby in a  
> > > Nutshell". It's the employee handbook here at the  
> > > plant.
> > > 
> > > \_why
> > 
> > \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_  
> > Do you Yahoo!?  
> > Declare Yourself - Register online to vote today!  
> > [http://vote.yahoo.com](http://vote.yahoo.com)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Gavin\_Kistner2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Gavin\_Kistner2](https://rubytalk.org/u/Gavin_Kistner2)\
**Post date:** [21 September 2004 19:07 UTC](https://rubytalk.org/t/whys-poignant-guide-to-ruby-chapter-five-them-what-make-the-rules-and-them-what-live-the-dream/13712/6 "2004-09-21T19:07:12Z")

</div>

An hour? Much more like three.

This is one hefty tome. Well worth the money.

> **···**
>
> On Sep 21, 2004, at 12:46 PM, Lennon Day-Reynolds wrote:
> 
> > ...and the list goes silent for an hour, as everyone takes another  
> > vacation into why's bizarre universe.