Anyone can have kids, but to raise them well is a hell of a lot of work.

Haha, too bad outsourcing would be bad conventions.

And raising them to be emacs contributors, even more so!

If it's such a painful hell of a lot of work, why do it? Why have kids if it's impossible to raise them well?

Good thing your parents didn't think that =)

Having a child (I have one) is a big responsibility but the joys far outweigh the work. I think, for me, the thing that I like the most is it gives me plenty of opportunities to learn not to be selfish but instead invest my time and energy into someone else.

And I would submit that it is not impossible to raise them well -- you just need to approach it the right way and educate yourself on the matter.

Congrats PG! I look forward to your essays on the matter.

Well, if my parents had thought that, then I wouldn't have to spend fourty hours a week sitting at a computer like a zombie. And that's just to be able to survive so that I can do more such work!

As for raising children... It really is impossible to raise them well. Every decision is a compromise and even if one choice is obviously better, it's just the lesser of evils. And those evils could have been prevented if the kid hadn't been born.

(I suppose I'm trolling, but this subject is so near and dear to me that I can't resist.)

Unlike emacs, kids actively seek out glitches. :-)

If only rms's parents had known that.