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- shitty enterprise software, on one of the worst code bases I've ever seen - Managers are very hands-off here, not many meetings either I was in a similar sp

- shitty enterprise software, on one of the worst code bases I've ever seen - Managers are very hands-off here, not many meetings either I was in a similar spot. You can get away with a ton of stuff in an environment like this, but as you've probably guessed, it will quickly bore you or the code base will invoke tears. Bonus if they let you work from home, and they probably would if you come up with a decent reason. Check your IP agreement, because someone doing due diligence on your Android/SaaS business will find that out if you ever plan to exit with your new companies. I'd be interested if you could 're-launch' your products with a clean version control history to sneak out from underneath an IP agreement since your current employer likely doesn't have any interest or any code from you regarding those unless you've told them. That would be a lawyer question though. Ethically, you should still keep enough working knowledge so that you don't fall into incompetence, and realize you may need to do occasional crunch-time which should get 100% of your attention. In my not-so-humble opinion, it's up to the business to assess your skills and make use of them, so by only handing you work which you can easily accomplish, you are fulfilling your responsibilities to your employer. This ultimately hurts you more than them because it ends up being low-quality stuff for your resume and you have to do more stretching of the truth. The business is already stretching the truth likely by promoting the shitty code base as a good product. Naturally, they won't be happy to find out you've been taking advantage of them, so I wouldn't ever bring up your Android/SaaS stuff or your free time around anyone.

kweinber 9y ago
You mentioned "shitty enterprise software, on one of the worst code bases I've ever seen" Do you realize that this is your fault too? Your job is to manage, maintain and improve the code-base but, instead, you choose to take advantage of the fact that you still get paid because people aren't micromanaging you and forcing you to do your job. You should realize that lousy codebases and micromanagers exist because of the people who act like you are acting -- without a sense of personal responsibility and accountability. Your lack of responsibility and commitment is a central reason why things are lousy for the rest of us.
- EastSmith 9y ago
  The tech-lead is responsible for the codebase.
- FLUX-YOU 9y ago
  The shitty code base existed before they got there. Dropping 'new, refactored code base' onto your managers lap can go a couple of ways. Doing it quietly is a recipe for disaster because then you have no support. Your manager could deny a rewrite altogether. Then what? If we had reasonable social safety nets, I would say quickly that he is irresponsible staying after finding out about the code base. But the problem is that employers upsell the stuff you're going to be working on. They don't tell you upfront that it's shit and you're the one to rewrite it. If you ask them about the quality of their code, they'd likely respond with "it has some painful points here and there" or some other non-answer. If they hired OP to rewrite it, then yes, they're not fulfilling their responsibilities. But it sounds like a place that just shovels JIRA issues at you and tells you to go fix them. An employer-employee relationship does not necessarily imply "I must do everything in my power to make sure this product is the best that it can be within my 40hrs/week". If you are leadership or a product owner, you have that burden, but not necessarily a LOB developer position. If they gave him that responsibility, they should immediately ask for a significant raise, because they've changed virtually the entire job which they were hired for.
  - kweinber 9y ago
    The world in which everyone solely does the minimum of what they are explicitly asked to do would be a unkind, bleak, unproductive, and dysfunctional one. I am extremely grateful that not everyone espouses this philosophy.
    - FLUX-YOU 9y ago
      Dying for corporate is not a hill you want to die on. There are certainly companies which are worth putting in 100% effort, but this isn't one of them for OP. But the reality is that most of us need a job. Who can we blame for not being able to perfectly match employers with employees and giving everyone a fairy tale ending?

kweinber 9y ago

You mentioned "shitty enterprise software, on one of the worst code bases I've ever seen" Do you realize that this is your fault too? Your job is to manage, maintain and improve the code-base but, instead, you choose to take advantage of the fact that you still get paid because people aren't micromanaging you and forcing you to do your job. You should realize that lousy codebases and micromanagers exist because of the people who act like you are acting -- without a sense of personal responsibility and accountability. Your lack of responsibility and commitment is a central reason why things are lousy for the rest of us.

EastSmith 9y ago
The tech-lead is responsible for the codebase.
FLUX-YOU 9y ago
The shitty code base existed before they got there. Dropping 'new, refactored code base' onto your managers lap can go a couple of ways. Doing it quietly is a recipe for disaster because then you have no support. Your manager could deny a rewrite altogether. Then what? If we had reasonable social safety nets, I would say quickly that he is irresponsible staying after finding out about the code base. But the problem is that employers upsell the stuff you're going to be working on. They don't tell you upfront that it's shit and you're the one to rewrite it. If you ask them about the quality of their code, they'd likely respond with "it has some painful points here and there" or some other non-answer. If they hired OP to rewrite it, then yes, they're not fulfilling their responsibilities. But it sounds like a place that just shovels JIRA issues at you and tells you to go fix them. An employer-employee relationship does not necessarily imply "I must do everything in my power to make sure this product is the best that it can be within my 40hrs/week". If you are leadership or a product owner, you have that burden, but not necessarily a LOB developer position. If they gave him that responsibility, they should immediately ask for a significant raise, because they've changed virtually the entire job which they were hired for.
- kweinber 9y ago
  The world in which everyone solely does the minimum of what they are explicitly asked to do would be a unkind, bleak, unproductive, and dysfunctional one. I am extremely grateful that not everyone espouses this philosophy.
  - FLUX-YOU 9y ago
    Dying for corporate is not a hill you want to die on. There are certainly companies which are worth putting in 100% effort, but this isn't one of them for OP. But the reality is that most of us need a job. Who can we blame for not being able to perfectly match employers with employees and giving everyone a fairy tale ending?