4 ms·
Was there ever a stage in your development where you might have done something like that? This is a rhetorical question because we were all there at some point
by rkangel 8y ago
Was there ever a stage in your development where you might have done something like that? This is a rhetorical question because we were all there at some point - even if it was age 8 with a first computer.
If people are displaying good intentions, and not wildly ignoring a load of clear instructions, then engaging with them will have a much greater chance of producing an educated, productive member of the community, and the more of those the better.
- fnordsensei 8y agoAgreed in general, but also, your argument rests on likening Microsoft to an eight year old using their first computer. Microsoft surely has the means to hire someone who is not an eight year old using their computer for the first time.
- rkangel 8y agoMicrosoft is a very big company, with everything from interns and developers only with Windows experience through to seasoned nix developers. This error is actually a good thing from point of view - it's an anecdatum that the whole* company is engaging with open source, not just the bits that know it well. This is something we should encourage and educate. The advantage of educating someone at Microsoft as that their institutional knowledge will persist some fraction of it, so that the next person that comes along is less likely to have issues.
- msl09 8y agoAlso it's not just a silly commit that was made on github but an actual software release. Any other software developer would be (and have been) mocked just as hard.
- ema 8y agoI've made many mistakes in my life but I always had enough respect for technology to not yank out parts of a system which I did not understand.
- MaulingMonkey 8y agoI've always had enough interest in technology to be willing to yank out parts of a system which I did not understand - to see what breaks, and through that, gain understanding. That said, I'm pretty sure the original author knew and understood exactly what they were doing - writing a dirty hack.
- rhetorical 8y agoDid you often yank out parts of other people's systems which you did not understand?
- munchbunny 8y agoOnly when I didn't understand the full impact of the hack I used.
- pjio 8y ago> to yank out parts of a system which I did not understand - to see what breaks, and through that, gain understanding. On your development machine or on machines of other people all around the world? You can also gain understanding from the later, too.
- grumpydba 8y ago> Was there ever a stage in your development where you might have done something like that? I think I would have done a little bit of reading. I also think it's the norm.
- MaulingMonkey 8y ago> Was there ever a stage in your development where you might have done something like that? I'm still willing to write worse! As a temporary hack with a JIRA issue tracking it, to unblock work, and with the intention of fixing it quickly, but still willing nonetheless. Meanwhile the code blocks on this website lose their scrollbar and pop atop everything if you hover over them, making it near impossible to scroll right through some kind of abuse of JavaScript. Why?!? Shall I snark about incompetence too? I can't even rationalize this one to myself as a means of unblocking development like I can with the packaging hack!
- stcredzero 8y agoWas there ever a stage in your development where you might have done something like that? This is a rhetorical question because we were all there at some point - even if it was age 8 with a first computer. The great thing about those early machines ( Apple ][+ ) is that the dynamic programming language was the OS and was the REPL and that was all in ROM, so you could tinker around to your heart's content and hit the Reset button if you got stuck. That's a context that's just fine for learning. Packaging for archives installed on other's machines aren't that kind of context. A kid gets to play in a playroom with some toys, not in a surgical theater or a machine shop.
- anothergoogler 8y agoYes, it was years before I even thought of applying for a developer position. I don't suppose that's the bar to clear for a company of Microsoft's stature, even if it's the work of a fresh intern.