02 Jun 2006, Posted by Matthew Reinbold in Thought & Theory,Tools, 2 Comments

RoR Creator on Cover of Linux World

If you happen to pick up the latest issue of Linux World you’ll see the creator of Ruby on Rails (RoR) staring back at you (pictured).

Good for him. What’s striking, however, is the associated commentary at the Signal verses Noise blog. Everybody is hung up on just how a nerd could be as photogenic as David. Of course, it’s probably because we expect our geeks to look something more akin to Bill Gates, circa 1983, Guido van Rossum (Python creator) – or Mr. Linux himself, Linus Torvalds.

It seems to be a chicken-n-egg problem: do we expect programmers to fail as cover-models because the nerds we do see aren't Adonises and/or Aphrodites? Or is it that those who fit society's perception of beauty pursue interests other than keyboard jockeying? Thoughts?