To: BitlBee
From: Sjoerd
Date: December 4th, 2005
Subject: Release 1.0

Dear BitlBee,

Today is your 22nd release day. It's the 1259nd day since the first line of your code was written. The story is a well-known one: Wilmer, sitting on a piece of farming equipment, thought of you. The first line of code was written that same day and there you were. You were a pretty baby program. Yes, you did cry and crash a lot—but what baby doesn't?

Your first release. You were becoming a child, not a baby anymore. In the night before it, we worked hard to get things ready for the release and the subsequent party. Of course we were very tired when you were released that we almost immediately fell asleep.

A year later—your 7th release—we were so proud. Not a child anymore, but a teenager. There were still a lot of things you were not very good at, but you were trying them anyway, not wanting our help anymore. Like any father I was proud and worried at the same time. I thought you were growing up so fast. I even said in the speech for that release that maybe you would've been all grown that year. I was wrong of course, but you were exploring the world fast. And the world started to know you and love you.

Your 15th release was a festive one. I was so eager to get at the party that I got a speeding ticket getting there. But that didn't spoil the party. We had a lot of fun that day. They even kept the pizzeria open, specially for you. The party marked your adolescence. You could handle the world alone, although you still needed our help at times. The world loved you of course, as it has always done.

And now, today, you're an adult. You can handle the world. You went through a lot of changes last year. Some changes were expected—the 100% CPU bug is finally found and squashed—others very unexpected. You now have a version control system. This has given a great openness in your development. We could see you were moonlighting as a port scanner up until revision 55. We could even see Wilmer forgot to commit—and committed to that in revision 6.

Of course, you still aren't very accomodating to people who want to do file transfers or who want to have buddy groups. But you can't have the whole world as your friend, so don't feel too bad about that. You're a good program and most people love your for that.

My dear Bee, there are a lot of things I can tell you. But words will always fall short. Today I can only wish you the best of luck in the world. Your ready for it and it is ready for you.

Truly yours

Sjoerd