caption disappeared_status date birth_name other_names disappeared_date known_for image article_title name occupation
_ why at railsconf europe possibly returned to online community 19 august 2009 jonathan gillette why , _ why , jonathan gillette 19 august 2009 '' '' , '' camping '' why 's -lrb- poignant -rrb- guide to ruby whytheluckystiff.jpg why the lucky stiff
 why the lucky stiff ruby programmer , author , musician
why the lucky stiff

until he disappeared from public view on 19 august 2009 , jonathan gillette , known by the pseudonym why the lucky stiff -lrb- often abbreviated as _ why -rrb- , was a prolific writer , cartoonist , artist , and computer programmer notable for his work with the ruby programming language .
annie lowrey described him `` one of the most unusual , and beloved , computer programmers '' in the world .
along with yukihiro matsumoto and david heinemeier hansson , he was seen as one of the key figures in the ruby community .
_ why made a presentation enigmatically titled `` a starry afternoon , a sinking symphony , and the polo champ who gave it all up for no reason whatsoever '' at the 2005 o'reilly open source convention .
it explored how to teach programming and make the subject more appealing to adolescents .
_ why gave a presentation and performed with his band , the thirsty cups , at railsconf in 2006 .
on 19 august 2009 , why 's accounts on twitter and github and his personally maintained websites went offline .
shortly before he disappeared , why the lucky stiff tweeted , `` programming is rather thankless .
u see your works become replaced by superior ones in a year .
unable to run at all in a few more . ''
_ why 's colleagues have assembled collections of his writings and projects .
on 5 january 2013 , _ why 's site was back online , although , as of october 2013 , it was only serving a blank page .
in march 2014 , the site re-launched as the personal blog of an anonymous individual from australia with no apparent connection to _ why .
