Just saying "I'm sorry" won't solve anything. The root of the problem is that people had legitimate desires that Matt originally did not acknowledge. Women programmers, like any programmer, have a desire to belong to a community, have their contributions acknowledged in that community, and feel safe in that community. Matt's presentation made some women feel like they weren't completely accepted in the community and it made some of them feel unsafe.
The real problem was ego. Neither Matt (nor DHH) initially acknowledged (or even realized) that these legitimate needs of women programmers were violated.
So what's really needed is for Matt and DHH to acknowledge and make room for the desires of others, not some hollow apology. DHH made it especially clear in his "I'm an R-rated Individual" blog post that he expects others to adjust to him and not the other way around.
Forced Apologies Are Of No Value
Just saying "I'm sorry" won't solve anything. The root of the problem is that people had legitimate desires that Matt originally did not acknowledge. Women programmers, like any programmer, have a desire to belong to a community, have their contributions acknowledged in that community, and feel safe in that community. Matt's presentation made some women feel like they weren't completely accepted in the community and it made some of them feel unsafe.
The real problem was ego. Neither Matt (nor DHH) initially acknowledged (or even realized) that these legitimate needs of women programmers were violated.
So what's really needed is for Matt and DHH to acknowledge and make room for the desires of others, not some hollow apology. DHH made it especially clear in his "I'm an R-rated Individual" blog post that he expects others to adjust to him and not the other way around.