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> Great things come from people being impractical Yes, but in my experience this is more an exception, compared to the vast majority of people who never ship a

> Great things come from people being impractical Yes, but in my experience this is more an exception, compared to the vast majority of people who never ship anything, because "it's not quite right yet". That's where the danger lies. And I think there are plenty of similarities between art and tech, regarding this. For a web app, it will have to be shared before growing in quality and becoming great. Github, Basecamp, Twitter all did that. It's always about having a first released being a kick ass half or a half ass product (Getting Real was phrasing it like that if I recall correctly). Same for a film. It might be released on a specific date to a wide audience, but it has gone through many iterations, discussed between dozens of people. And just getting it done does not mean that you have to stop everything once your deadline has passed. If there is more work that you want to add to improve it, do it. But at least you've shared it as an intermediary stage, and you and your work have probably both grown from that. And you can now give yourself another deadline.

stouset 9y ago
As someone who spent the first ten years of their career desperately trying to salvage one steaming heap of technical debt and security disasters after another, I think we have wildly diverging opinions of the consequences of software development driven primarily by just trying to get something committed and out there. In my opinion, every single one of these companies was effectively a zombie: dead, but unaware of it.
- frading 9y ago
  Do I understand you right that Github, Basecamp, Twitter are or were zombies? If that's what you are saying, I'd love you to elaborate, because I can't see how one could see this.
  - stouset 9y ago
    The companies I was referring to are the companies I had worked for in the past, that were saddled with irrecoverable technical debt as a result of “just ship it” with no regard to craftsmanship.

stouset 9y ago

As someone who spent the first ten years of their career desperately trying to salvage one steaming heap of technical debt and security disasters after another, I think we have wildly diverging opinions of the consequences of software development driven primarily by just trying to get something committed and out there. In my opinion, every single one of these companies was effectively a zombie: dead, but unaware of it.

frading 9y ago
Do I understand you right that Github, Basecamp, Twitter are or were zombies? If that's what you are saying, I'd love you to elaborate, because I can't see how one could see this.
- stouset 9y ago
  The companies I was referring to are the companies I had worked for in the past, that were saddled with irrecoverable technical debt as a result of “just ship it” with no regard to craftsmanship.