Not that the bulk of the universe has any reason to care, but Red Hat hosted a little conference in New Orleans last week. Among other speakers, Wil Wheaton was supposed to speak. Given the rest of the agenda, his presentation may well have been the most entertaining of the bunch. However, he cancelled at the last moment.

Now, he is sore about being called unprofessional for doing this. But, barring acts of god, making a professional commitment then not meeting it is the very definition of an unprofessional act. Mr. Wheaton is almost certainly a fine and professional person most of the time, but that does not place one above criticism.

We should not shy away from making ethical or technical judgements upon each other’s actions. LIkewise, we should not shy away from accepting such feedback on our own actions. That is the way toward improvement.