Please read the article you link to. It states that Godwin's Law really means that the longer a discussion goes on the more likely someone will be insulted by being compared to Hitler or Nazis. I do not see how calling someone a Rails would be at all suggested.

I know what it says. Look at the discussion on Derek's post. Hitler will be mentioned soon, I'm sure.

I thought Derek's post was quite bad, at least in terms of making his process problem into a technology problem. That sort of confusion gives people free rein to start a flame war.

Lots of people seem to want to jump in whenever The Framework is criticized...on both sides. So many people are seemingly desparate for reasons to shoot it down, and it has changed so many people's lives for the better they feel compelled to defend it. I think it is quite telling that Rails has been able to stand up to the hype and hate.

Lots of other people wish their framework was as loved- yet there is so little real criticism that *any* criticism of it, no matter how tangential, gets an excess of attention.

I'm releasing Hitler on Rails later this year! How did you know?!

@matt_m, I thought Derek was quite clear that his problem wasn't a technology problem. Many of the responses support Gregory's assertion here.

Think long and hard before throwing around phrases, or linking to people who casually throw around phrases, like "xxx is the new Hitler", jokingly or otherwise. Comparing something like a web development framework to the worst mass murderer of all time does a grave disservice to the millions of innocent people who died, and their descendants, because of that man.

Will Green, the entire idea behind Godwin's Law is that Hitler is thrown around too often. You just dissed someone on your side.

Joking would be a book about exterminating legacy PHP systems called, "Mein KamPHP: The Agile Solution."

http://www.oreillynet.com/onlamp/blog/2007/09/big_requirements_up_front.html

(And we hope this foo' website doesn't prevent links to itself!)

Will Green,

My post was in reference entirely to Godwin's Law. It has nothing to do with Rails as a framework, only the sad bit of net culture we're experiencing as you watch the comment stream evolve and blog posts in response to what Derek said here.

For those who missed that connection, sorry. I don't take these issues lightly, I just assumed most tech people were familiar with Godwin.

I thought Derek was quite clear that his problem wasn't a technology problem.

I'm not sure, and maybe I don't have the best memory early in the morning, but I think he edited it to be clearer on this point than when it was first posted. This morning it read like a dig on Rails, but just re-reading it, it definitely says that "The Big Rewrite" is a "Bad Idea."

acts_as_final_solution

Godwin's law *SHOULD* be asymptotic. You have stepped over the line; go back two spaces.

I suggest much of this has to do with the glorification of being opinionated over principled. It colors all the debates challenging the rails framework (which I use professionally and value).

Here is my larger assessment of the problem with labeling rails

Francis wins the internet.

Also, people who don't understand Godwin's Law piss me off. Godwin's Law is a law in the same way as the Law of Thermodynamics. It's a Law because it states a truth. It can not be invoked, enforced or amended.

"As a Usenet discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one."

On most usenet lists, a rule based on Godwins's Law is in place, saying that a tread should be closes as soon as someone compares some other individual or group to Hitler or the Nazis. Many confuse this rule with the law itself.

Anyway, comparing a web framework to Adolph Hitler only proves the OP's ignorance about history and his general lack of taste and decency. I hope he will choose his words more carefully in the future.

Now please don't bother us again with your sensationalist little headlines.

Godwin's Law has already been modified by Case's Corollary. You've caught a grave mistake in my reasoning. It is this, which should be changed to include Rails.

"Now please don't bother us again with your sensationalist little headlines."

While I might agree somewhat, I vehemently protest against your attempt to include "us".

Please, speak for yourself only, not for "us" or anyone else, because I will tell you one thing - even in case I disagree with Gregory, I disagree even more so with YOU! Do not insinuate there is a hive mind of thinking.

We are all individuals.
(Which, by the way, Hitler's propaganda machinery tried to diminish by addressing him as The Great Leader and everony else as part of a "mob", thus no more individual thinking.)

Unacceptable for the O'Reilly Network.

'...Godwin’s Law should be amended to include Rails?'

This can be interpreted in two ways:

1. As tread gets longer, chances increase that someone will mention Rails. IMHO, this is false.
2. When tread is about Rails, it gets heated and Hitler will be mentioned. Well, this is already part of Godwin’s Law, so I don't understand what new thing are you suggesting.

Because discussions tend to get personal, Godwin’s Law applies not only to Usenet discussions, but to any internet forum, that is, unless if it is an anonymous forum.