As others before me, I have discovered that the central Internet structures for discussing the programming language "Lua" have very severe problems.

More precisely, the places where Lua is currently discussed are EVIL.

I am primarily talking about the mailing list, Lua-L.

On Lua-L, it is impossible to start any project that deviates from the "official" path defined by the university, PUC-Rio.

Problem is, that path is severely outdated. New things are in store for Lua (like Mobile Lua and, later, a full-blown Lua OS). But PUC-Rio is deaf and blind to the future. PUC-Rio, for whatever reason that may be, is stuck in a world of the past.

Generally, collaboration and team-forming is next to impossible on Lua-L. All structures are set, everyone is busy, nobody is free to join anything new. Another compelling reason for a drastic change in Lua-Land.

So. If we want Lua to evolve - and we do -, we need a new way of talking about Lua. A new place. A new mindset. A new hierarchy.

I propose to put myself on top of that new hierarchy. I am a very good guide and councellor. I lift up instead of suppressing. I also know my limits (if there are any). I attack people, but only when necessary. After the change is done, there will be no more need for that.

I see problems and I usually know how to solve them. If there are no problems, I let everyone expand themselves properly and fully.

It seems that I am kind of the opposite of Roberto Ierusalimschy in many ways. (He is sometimes OK and yeah, he created the language. But that was long ago, and today he mostly leans towards the suppression side of government which is really bad.)

So. I think all I have to do now is wait until people begin to agree with me on this. Because it most definitely is the truth.

Let us reboot Lua-Land. For a Lua of the future. We want to build a whole operating system around it - so let's get ready.

Update (Sep 24): Here is a quote from a mail I received from another unhappy member of Lua-L (after I had pointed out the list's problems sometime last year):

THANKS FOR HAVING THE COURAGE TO POST THAT!!!!! 8-)

Just as I expected, now people are telling YOU to control your
anger... just because you were explicit and used an unusual tone -
that you obviously (IMO) thought about, and chose deliberately.

The list is full of posts that I consider gratuitously angry, but that
are written in a casual tone - like the tone of stressed professionals
on too much caffeine, complaining about everything - and no one says
much about those posts...

It became commonplace here to bash other people's design choices
instead of valueing contributions, and I've seen very little being
done against that. I wonder how many people with interesting ideas now
hesitate months before posting anything in the list.

  Cheers!
    Happy hacking,
    happy reading,
    happy writing!

Conclusion: I am not the only one who sees the negativity on Lua-L and wants to change it.