20 years cutting Ruby - reflections on public vs private sector

About

The Scottish Ruby User Group is a collection of people who are linked with Scotland and have an interest in Ruby and Ruby on Rails.

We meet every month online and in person in Edinburgh for presentations from members and guests, and a chat about Ruby and related subjects.

All are welcome, and there are no subscriptions or costs involved.

Meetings are announced in advance on the mailing list, Meetup, and Google Group and follow our code of conduct.

You can also find us on:

Meeting up

We currently meet online on the second Thursday of the month at 18:00. Currently we’re experimenting with the most appropriate video conferencing solution. Links will be posted the day before if you’re signed up on Meetup.

Mailing List

You can browse and subscribe to the list using the ScotRUG Google Group information page. The list is for announcements of activities and general Ruby support and discussion; feel free to post any questions you may have.

IRC

We have a Freenode channel #scotrug, though it’s quite quiet. There’s also the Gitter channel around the ScotRUG github repository. It is also quiet.

Code of Conduct

To ensure we provide a welcoming and friendly environment for all, attendees, speakers, organisers, and volunteers at any ScotRUG meetup are required to conform to our code of conduct.

Organizers will enforce this code throughout the meetup and meetup-related social events.

Videos

Videos of previous presentations have been provided courtesy of Cultivate.

20 years cutting Ruby - reflections on public vs private sector

posted 03 Feb 2026

Happy 2026 everyone! February is here, we’ve seen the tiniest glimpses of sun in the sky, and the days are definitely getting longer. What a time to come together to chat about Ruby things. This month we’re joined by Josh Pencheon, who’s been using Ruby for 20 years working in the civil service and in the private sector. Looking back on it, he traces the similarities, differences, but mainly what he’s learned along the way.

Where

We’re delighted to be hosted by FreeAgent again this month, in their lovely offices on Fountainbridge in Edinburgh. They’ll supply food and refreshments in their office on Fountainbridge, just behind the canal basin and next to the Tesco.

There will be a couple of friendly folks to let you upstairs until about 18:15

When

Thursday 12 February, 2026

Agenda

Doors open from 18:00 for socialising/networking
Talk start about 18:30
Finish the event by heading to a nearby pub, close to Haymarket train station before 20:00

Please sign up on Meetup so we have numbers for food.

See you then!

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