Ruby Central, Inc., is a
non-profit organization
A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...
based in the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, dedicated to support and advocacy for the
Ruby programming language
Ruby is a general-purpose programming language. It was designed with an emphasis on programming productivity and simplicity. In Ruby, everything is an object, including primitive data types. It was developed in the mid-1990s by Yukihiro "Mat ...
.
Ruby Central is the parent organization of the annual International Ruby and
Ruby on Rails
Ruby on Rails (simplified as Rails) is a server-side web application framework written in Ruby under the MIT License. Rails is a model–view–controller (MVC) framework, providing default structures for a database, a web service, and web pa ...
Conferences, and serves as a visible presence and point of contact for corporate sponsors interested in supporting these conferences and other Ruby activities.
The organization was founded by a group of Ruby advocates including David Alan Black, Chad Fowler and
Richard Kilmer. Black and Fowler were involved in organizing the first annual International Ruby Conference. Shortly after that conference, the organizers realized that a permanent organization was required to handle conference arrangements, and Ruby Central was created to address this.
Ruby Central’s first project was ''RubyConf 2002'', and annual RubyConfs have been held since then. Ruby Central produced the first official Ruby on Rails Conference, ''RailsConf 2006'', in
Chicago
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
in June 2006. The organization partnered with the Bay Area-base
SVForumto produce the 2006 Silicon Valley Ruby Conference,
[SVForum](_blank)
2006 Silicon Valley Ruby Conference. and with the
UK training organization Skills Matter to produce the first official European Rails Conference in September 2006. In November 2007, Ruby Central presented ''RailsConf 2007'' in
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 United ...
, in partnership with
O'Reilly Media
O'Reilly Media, Inc. (formerly O'Reilly & Associates) is an American learning company established by Tim O'Reilly that provides technical and professional skills development courses via an online learning platform. O'Reilly also publishes b ...
. The event was completely sold out by mid-October.
''RailsConf 2008'', also presented in partnership with O'Reilly, was held May 29-June 1, 2008 in
Portland, Oregon
Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...
.
Ruby Central has also become a hub for support of Ruby activities. The organization's first project other than RubyConf was the Ruby Codefest Grant Program, through which they offered support for local and regional groups of programmers working on Ruby library projects. In 2006 Ruby Central inaugurated a Regional Conference Grant Program, aimed at promoting smaller regional Ruby and Rails conferences.
See also
*
RubyKaigi, the largest Ruby conference in Japan
References
External links
Ruby CentralRubyConfRailsConfRailsConf Europe
{{Ruby programming language
Ruby (programming language)
Non-profit organizations based in the United States