I was about to post a rant here about how the latest Joel on Software article was sent only to his email subscribers, with a codicil not to “reprint, post to the web or send to another mailing list or discussion group,” making it impossible for me to respond publicly to the points he raises.
Then I went and visited his Web page and discovered that (apparently) enough people had trouble receiving the email that he posted it online anyway. Well, a slightly shorter version, but close enough. So I’ll assume it’s no longer against Joel’s wishes to post here about it.
Of course, now that I was all prepared to rant about not being able to rant, I find that my original rant has lost most of its desire to get out. I will say this: I disagree with (or think Joel understands incorrectly) almost everything except the first two paragraphs. But I think the first two paragraph are fascinating reading.
Of course, he can stop you from posting the article, but he can’t stop you from commenting on it. That’s acceptable under fair use.
I appreciate the intended rant, though — I was really annoyed to have to get the article via email, just to read commentary from someone whom I know I’ll disagree with. Joel has a lot of interesting thoughts, but he’s often wrong.