There are a lot of people that really aren't all that important when viewed from outside the communities in which they really are important.
I'm sorry that you're annoyed by his alias, and that you feel that Ruby users are self-important fools. I hope you can either get past those feelings or come up with a better argument.
Well, there actually is a WP guideline about this phenomenon: WP:LOCALFAME. The long/short of it is: you're notable if a reliable source (not a blog) has written about you. It's pretty much exactly that simple.
Yes. It is loose. It does get annoying. I've put many articles up for deletion and failed because of scraps of evidence --- press releases reprinted in news feeds, for instance.
So, if you want to take your issue with _why and litigate it in the AfD, go ahead and do it. You'll lose, though.
Hey, I'm not arguing either way. I said he's borderline notable, and I'm not that interested in arguing which side of the border he's on. I'm just trying to understand why some people seem to care so much that this guy should be listed on wikipedia.
(I certainly wouldn't imply that "Ruby users are self-important fools", because I've used Ruby myself in the past. But I'm sure only a small minority of Ruby users particularly give a damn about this guy anyway.)
I'm sorry that you're annoyed by his alias, and that you feel that Ruby users are self-important fools. I hope you can either get past those feelings or come up with a better argument.