Are you sure you want to be mainstream?

remark: come from http://www.loudthinking.com/arc/000584.html

Cedric wrote a very flattering article in which he exalted the virtues and benefits of Ruby on Rails. He talks about a love for the language and features that are dreams come true. But he also pauses his flatter to spread a prophesy: Ruby on Rails won't become mainstream.

A natural reaction from the Rails community might be "it will too!", but wait. Hold that thought. First, ask yourself the question: do you really want Rails to become mainstream? I'm not so sure I do. I believe that the mainstream is overrated.

To me, mainstream is mostly about reaching people who just don't care. There are certainly benefits to having such a broad reach that it can include people who don't care, but the downsides are at least as big. Especially in open source projects like Rails that we're primarily involved in to do something for ourselves. Solve our own problems, not be a vendor, and all that.

So no, I don't think the mainstream is that attractive. What I do think is attractive is having a sustainable ecosystem. I believe we have that already. There are enough people and businesses that depend on Rails today to ensure that it'll be surviving and thriving for many, many years to come. In other words, we have critical mass.

As a developer, look around you. Would you rather be part of the mainstream or a smaller community with critical mass? Going mainstream usually means slowing progress until it resembles a complete stop and dealing with a whole other level of secondary concerns.

So let's worry less about whether or not we're going mainstream. Instead, let's continue to work on fostering a sustainable community of people who care. Optimize for those who sympathize with our cultural leanings instead of trying to water it down by reaching for the lowest common denominator of enterprisy glitter and mainstream blandness.

Let the willing and the able self-select out of the mainstream and into the upstream.