7 ms·

How to impress Joel Spolsky

201 points by rlmw 16y ago

rlmw 16y ago
"Ashton even wrote a macro for Jeff that automated that one task. Jeff didn’t want to get caught, so he refused to install it. They weren’t on speaking terms after that. It was awkward." My favourite quote.
- unoti 16y ago
  It's so true, too. Productivity really does alienate slackers. Who was it that said small teams Do not tolerate freeloaders?
  - dkarl 16y ago
    To be fair to Jeff, he understood that Ashton was in the wrong place to be doing what he was doing. He might as well have been knitting mittens in the Congo. It took Ashton two years to realize that Jeff was the one who understood what the company offered and what the company expected in return.
kylec 16y ago
You could start by spelling "Spolsky" correctly
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
timmorgan 16y ago
I don't mean to be dumb, but I really don't get it. How does that story answer the question, other than to imply that in a few years, nothing the OP will have done will matter at all. Sort of sad.
- martingordon 16y ago
  The impression I get from that little story is that if you don't write code that matters, you don't matter (as an engineer).
- jammur 16y ago
  I think the point of the story may be that you can't wait for the hard problems to come to you. You have to go and look for them. Ashton waited at the furniture company hoping that one day he would be presented with a problem that would gain him recognition. After years of waiting, he decided he couldn't wait any longer and went to San Francisco to FIND a problem that would get him the recognition he wanted.
  - Tycho 16y ago
    You nailed it. I was going to say 'if your work doesn't challenge you, you need to find a new job' or 'don't let your job stand in the way of your development' It's interesting how people came up with different interpretations or 'take home points.' This thread has made me think about the essence of storytelling. I guess it's like - people always do things for reasons - when people do strange things, we tell stories about it - the stories are interesting because we must reconcile the strangeness with the motivation (ie. its interesting because the motivation is not immediately obvious but we know it must be there unless the subject was insane) - the job of fiction is to imagine new 'interesting' cases; the difficulty is keeping it 'true.' The author doesn't have the luxury of relating what did happen, he/she has to project what would happen, sort of like a machine plugging endless variables into an equation until an unusual/unexpected (but still valid) result crops up Someone could teach a high school English class with Joel's SO post
- unoti 16y ago
  I read it differently, perhaps because I feel so strongly about this idea: do a good job, focus on what's important. If management doesn't appreciate you for that, then it's a terrible place to work. If you're doing a good job and they aren't appreciating it, then you seriously need to gtfo. If you don't, you will rot. Over the years as I've looked around me, I've seen a lot of people stagnating in their jobs. Sometimes it's because of lack of effort from the developer, and sometimes it's because of poor management. But if doing a great job isn't already enough, then maybe the job is a poor fit. The parable in the story touches on both of these issues: trying hard, and the struggle to please management. A third issue that's perhaps more important: you need to find the work fulfilling for your own reasons. Working exclusively for the praise of your superiors is a good way to be unhappy with your employment in most places. So figure that out, or go to a place where the work matters. And buyer beware: there are places even in San Francisco where doing good development work will garner you no notice. I just left such a place.
AlexeyMK 16y ago
I feel like Joel really misses blogging. Good writing is just kind of pouring out of him, spilling here and there.
- staunch 16y ago
  Seriously. He's still got it.
X-Istence 16y ago
I think I may be missing the point of the story ...
snissn 16y ago
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mu_(negative) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mu_(negative)
tptacek 16y ago
Oh, come on, Joel. Grand Haven isn't that bad. It's only slightly colder than Manhattan, and just 15 minutes further inland you're in a weird Michigan microclimate where they can grow decent wine grapes. The beaches are fucking beautiful --- those are the beaches they shot the end of Road to Perdition on. And I bet the chairs they give you at that company are awesome.
- cwbrandsma 16y ago
  I lived in Grand Rapids for 5 years (4 of them were college). Not going back. EVER. Most claustrophobia inducing environment I've ever lived in (the trees man, the trees, you can't get out of the trees). But the beaches are nice.
  - tptacek 16y ago
    Grand Rapids is like an hour and a half inland from Grand Haven. =)
  - juiceandjuice 16y ago
    Coming from the desert, I feel the opposite.
- bsytko 16y ago
  I believe Joel was talking about Holland, MI and Herman Miller. In the story he mentions a name Charlie Sherman, which could be some kind of reference to Herman Miller. Later on he talks about the Gerald R. Ford freeway, which is I-196 that runs right through Holland. Furthermore, a Google Maps search of Herman Miller in Holland would indicate that there are several possibilities for a person to be driving on Lincoln Ave in which a left would direct them to Herman Miller and going straight would run them into I-196 [1]. Now, the question in my mind is: How does Joel know so much about West Michigan and in such great detail that he can accurately portray the directions he would turn. According to Joel's Wikipedia profile [2], he has never been close to Michigan his entire life. It appears to me he has never even set foot in this great state. So he can not be talking about himself. Jeff Atwood makes no mention of anything relating to Michigan on his profile [2], so I would not believe to the story a reference to Jeff. Someone would had to have been particularly close to Joel for him to remember a story such as this in such great detail. The search continues.... [1] http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&q=herman+miller&sll=42.762453,-86.093588&sspn=0.042157,0.06815&ie=UTF8&t=h&rq=1&ev=p&split=1&radius=2.08&hq=herman+miller&hnear=&ll=42.751865,-86.092043&spn=0.042164,0.06815&z=14 http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&#38... [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joel_Spolsky http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joel_Spolsky [3] http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2004/02/about-me.html http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2004/02/about-me.html -Internet Detective
duck 16y ago
Funny how the guy that doesn't do anything in the story is named Jeff.
- jpr 16y ago
  What is that a reference to? I suppose this is what I get for not owning a tv.
  - turbodog 16y ago
    http://www.theonion.com/articles/area-man-constantly-mentioning-he-doesnt-own-a-tel,429/ http://www.theonion.com/articles/area-man-constantly-mention...
  - nostrademons 16y ago
    I think duck is insinuating that it's a reference to Jeff Atwood, Joel's cofounder for Stack Exchange.
  - cfinke 16y ago
    http://www.theonion.com/articles/area-man-constantly-mentioning-he-doesnt-own-a-tel,429/ http://www.theonion.com/articles/area-man-constantly-mention...
rayvega 16y ago
The writing style of both the posted question and Joel's response gave off such a "Dear Abby" advice column vibe that it was a pleasant, surprising piece to read on a usual by-the-numbers Q&A site. If he ever returns to blogging, a "Dear Joel" format might be an entertaining read.
sizzla 16y ago
What the story might leave out is that Ashton's family is in a lot of trouble, Mom alcoholic, Dad MIA a long time ago. Mom's boyfriend is a physically abusive guy and thinking about that prick gave him strength to do just one more rep on his 200 lb bench-press routine. He could never quite fit in with the rich "middle class" kids from the big cities, preferring to drink Pabst Blue Ribbon with his high-school buddies, get stoned and listen to 80s hard-rock. On one or two occasions, he read Hacker News but thought ... well, the readers here might get angry but our farm boy thought all of them were sheltered dweebs who did not know a damn thing about how real life is like. On one of those occasions where their crowd was full of freshman girls who were really looking forward to getting wasted and laid that night, in drunken stupor Ashton heard Wayne calling out to him. He hasn't seen Wayne since he joined the Army 2 years ago. Man it was good to see him again, he's the kind of buddy who'd get in a fight for you without asking a single question. Wayne knows what's up, Ashton thought to himself as they talked about Wikileaks and f__king sh__ up. Giggly girls just kept interrupting his conversation and, irritated, he asked one of them if she would give away a government secret if all it was doing was covering someone's ass for raping some 9 year old dancing boys in Afghanistan. Janice just clammed up and some of her ditsiness immediately disappeared. Not having much to say, feeling put on the spot, a bit shamed and a bit embarassed, she remembered him well that night, but that's another story. Wayne and Ashton went to Bobbie's Diner to sober up with some greasy burgers and shoot the sh_t. Soon enough they weren't talking about tits, even though Janice had a really nice pair... Wayne kept telling him how much of cool stuff the military really does and how he could hook him up. Man, Wayne knows what's up, he thought to himself. Besides, if it came to working with guys like Wayne or the dweebs in San Francisco, it was a no brainer.... That's at least how Ashton thought about things back then... but then again, he was only 20. Nowadays he spends his time working for DISA on new worms. Everyone needs a botnet nowadays, even the government. It's really cool work, he learned a lot. But he knows damn well that's something he's never going to be able to talk about. At least Wayne gets to post bullshit on Twitter as th3j3st3r, he thinks to himself. His $80k salary is pretty damn good, and even his Mom is better, she dumped that dickwad. Though she is really getting old, all that alcohol just turned har brain to mush and she sometimes doesn't make sense. Maybe it'd be better he went to Silicon Valley, but then, just glancing over at the picture of him, Janice and their adorable 3 year old made him say "fuck no!" loud enough that his officemate looked up at him with that "dude, are you allright?" look.. He would've never met Jen and would probably still be chasing money like a wannabe pornstar in Los Angeles...
softbuilder 16y ago
All I can think about is Batman vs. Spock. I mean, it's Spock, right? It's gotta be.
- puredemo 16y ago
  Definitely batman, he has way more gear.
  - psadauskas 16y ago
    Spock has a starship; I think that counts as more gear.
    - run4yourlives 16y ago
      It isn't Spock's ship, it's Kirk's. Spock just rides along, like Robin.
      - redthrowaway 16y ago
        He has a phaser; Batman won't even use a gun. Plus, he's got a tricorder that can detect somebody's location from miles away. No way in Hell Batman wins.
        adrianN 16y ago
        Also, Vulcans are far stronger than humans, so Spock wins in hand-to-hand combat too.
        hugh3 16y ago
        Batman regularly beats much-stronger opponents. That shouldn't be an issue. Strength only matters if you actually manage to punch or grab Batman. And you're not gonna manage to punch or grab Batman. Spock only has one decent fighting move, and it targets the back of the neck. Batman's neck is so heavily armoured that he can't even turn his head.
kevinpet 16y ago
I thought about writing a blog post once because I think I've finally found the key insight to being a successful engineer. Then I realized it isn't long enough for a blog post. Simple rule: if you're the smartest person in the room, go look for a room with smarter people in it.
- InfinityX0 16y ago
  The only problem: I think we all believe we're the smartest person in the room, or at very least inflate our own "intelligence" some modicum amount, every time, so that someone who is actually 20 or so % smarter than us we actually see ourselves as slightly superior to. So, it's hard to make this judgment call, or, if we did, we'd be traveling a damn lot.
  - ronnier 16y ago
    I always feel the dumbest or close to it (honestly). At my new gig I'll really feel bad :/
    - jodrellblank 16y ago
      You don't have to conflate feeling like the dumbest with feeling bad.
  - PakG1 16y ago
    I think that's only true for people who've never been humbled. If you've been humbled, you are more easily able to question yourself and recognize if you're not the smartest in the room. At least, that's the way it worked for me. :)
    - wccrawford 16y ago
      I don't think someone needs to 'be humbled' to get it. They just need to be humble. It -is- possible to learn lessons without having your nose ground in it. Also, there's a difference between thinking you're smartest and knowing it. Mostly in attitude.
jasonkester 16y ago
It's hard to believe that we used to get a new story like this every few weeks. Joel is such an enjoyable author to read that it really doesn't matter what he's writing about. He could be writing about some random Distributed Version Control system you have no intention of using (and he has) and you could still be pretty sure you'd be in for a pleasant 15 minutes. I hope somebody can convince the guy to put stuff like this up on JoelOnSoftware. I mean sure, somebody might accuse him of blogging again (god forbid), but selfishly it would be nice not to have to rely on HackerNews to find little gems like this for me.
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RiderOfGiraffes 16y ago
This was a good read, yes, but did anyone here really learn anything new from it? I don't understand why it's go so many upvotes, and I'd really like to know what I've missed. "Write code that people use, and ship it." Was there anything else?
- sudont 16y ago
  "Impressing your boss is a crappy career goal. Even if your boss is amazing.” -- tptacek Linking the comment, give him the upvotes: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1994344 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1994344
trobinson 16y ago
by spelling his lastname correctly?
EGreg 16y ago
Wow! Spock vs Batman! I never thought about it!
jonsagara 16y ago
On a related note: http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/2010-12-11/ http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/2010-12-11/
bluesnowmonkey 16y ago
Best way: build something that you know will break, then be prepared to swoop in and fix it. Whenever you fix one bug, add another. Repeat ad infinitum. Some people will be impressed by your resourcefulness. Others will be angry that things break at all, but over time these people will get fed up and leave. Eventually a culture will develop wherein it is accepted that IT systems are just fundamentally unreliable. You will get stable long-term employment, a good salary, and regular (though superficial) praise and deference from everyone around you, including your boss. This strategy is extremely reliable. I have seen it used successfully at every company I've ever worked at, large and small, in multiple industries. Another approach is to develop an internal professional ethic and pursue it irrespective of office politics. It's not as good for career stability but you sleep better.

201 points by rlmw 16y ago

rlmw 16y ago

"Ashton even wrote a macro for Jeff that automated that one task. Jeff didn’t want to get caught, so he refused to install it. They weren’t on speaking terms after that. It was awkward." My favourite quote.

unoti 16y ago
It's so true, too. Productivity really does alienate slackers. Who was it that said small teams Do not tolerate freeloaders?
- dkarl 16y ago
  To be fair to Jeff, he understood that Ashton was in the wrong place to be doing what he was doing. He might as well have been knitting mittens in the Congo. It took Ashton two years to realize that Jeff was the one who understood what the company offered and what the company expected in return.

kylec 16y ago

You could start by spelling "Spolsky" correctly

deleted 16y ago
[deleted]

timmorgan 16y ago

I don't mean to be dumb, but I really don't get it. How does that story answer the question, other than to imply that in a few years, nothing the OP will have done will matter at all. Sort of sad.

martingordon 16y ago
The impression I get from that little story is that if you don't write code that matters, you don't matter (as an engineer).
jammur 16y ago
I think the point of the story may be that you can't wait for the hard problems to come to you. You have to go and look for them. Ashton waited at the furniture company hoping that one day he would be presented with a problem that would gain him recognition. After years of waiting, he decided he couldn't wait any longer and went to San Francisco to FIND a problem that would get him the recognition he wanted.
- Tycho 16y ago
  You nailed it. I was going to say 'if your work doesn't challenge you, you need to find a new job' or 'don't let your job stand in the way of your development' It's interesting how people came up with different interpretations or 'take home points.' This thread has made me think about the essence of storytelling. I guess it's like - people always do things for reasons - when people do strange things, we tell stories about it - the stories are interesting because we must reconcile the strangeness with the motivation (ie. its interesting because the motivation is not immediately obvious but we know it must be there unless the subject was insane) - the job of fiction is to imagine new 'interesting' cases; the difficulty is keeping it 'true.' The author doesn't have the luxury of relating what did happen, he/she has to project what would happen, sort of like a machine plugging endless variables into an equation until an unusual/unexpected (but still valid) result crops up Someone could teach a high school English class with Joel's SO post
unoti 16y ago
I read it differently, perhaps because I feel so strongly about this idea: do a good job, focus on what's important. If management doesn't appreciate you for that, then it's a terrible place to work. If you're doing a good job and they aren't appreciating it, then you seriously need to gtfo. If you don't, you will rot. Over the years as I've looked around me, I've seen a lot of people stagnating in their jobs. Sometimes it's because of lack of effort from the developer, and sometimes it's because of poor management. But if doing a great job isn't already enough, then maybe the job is a poor fit. The parable in the story touches on both of these issues: trying hard, and the struggle to please management. A third issue that's perhaps more important: you need to find the work fulfilling for your own reasons. Working exclusively for the praise of your superiors is a good way to be unhappy with your employment in most places. So figure that out, or go to a place where the work matters. And buyer beware: there are places even in San Francisco where doing good development work will garner you no notice. I just left such a place.

AlexeyMK 16y ago

I feel like Joel really misses blogging. Good writing is just kind of pouring out of him, spilling here and there.

staunch 16y ago
Seriously. He's still got it.

X-Istence 16y ago

I think I may be missing the point of the story ...

snissn 16y ago

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mu_(negative) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mu_(negative)

tptacek 16y ago

Oh, come on, Joel. Grand Haven isn't that bad. It's only slightly colder than Manhattan, and just 15 minutes further inland you're in a weird Michigan microclimate where they can grow decent wine grapes. The beaches are fucking beautiful --- those are the beaches they shot the end of Road to Perdition on. And I bet the chairs they give you at that company are awesome.

cwbrandsma 16y ago
I lived in Grand Rapids for 5 years (4 of them were college). Not going back. EVER. Most claustrophobia inducing environment I've ever lived in (the trees man, the trees, you can't get out of the trees). But the beaches are nice.
- tptacek 16y ago
  Grand Rapids is like an hour and a half inland from Grand Haven. =)
- juiceandjuice 16y ago
  Coming from the desert, I feel the opposite.
bsytko 16y ago
I believe Joel was talking about Holland, MI and Herman Miller. In the story he mentions a name Charlie Sherman, which could be some kind of reference to Herman Miller. Later on he talks about the Gerald R. Ford freeway, which is I-196 that runs right through Holland. Furthermore, a Google Maps search of Herman Miller in Holland would indicate that there are several possibilities for a person to be driving on Lincoln Ave in which a left would direct them to Herman Miller and going straight would run them into I-196 [1]. Now, the question in my mind is: How does Joel know so much about West Michigan and in such great detail that he can accurately portray the directions he would turn. According to Joel's Wikipedia profile [2], he has never been close to Michigan his entire life. It appears to me he has never even set foot in this great state. So he can not be talking about himself. Jeff Atwood makes no mention of anything relating to Michigan on his profile [2], so I would not believe to the story a reference to Jeff. Someone would had to have been particularly close to Joel for him to remember a story such as this in such great detail. The search continues.... [1] http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&q=herman+miller&sll=42.762453,-86.093588&sspn=0.042157,0.06815&ie=UTF8&t=h&rq=1&ev=p&split=1&radius=2.08&hq=herman+miller&hnear=&ll=42.751865,-86.092043&spn=0.042164,0.06815&z=14 http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&#38... [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joel_Spolsky http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joel_Spolsky [3] http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2004/02/about-me.html http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2004/02/about-me.html -Internet Detective

duck 16y ago

Funny how the guy that doesn't do anything in the story is named Jeff.

jpr 16y ago
What is that a reference to? I suppose this is what I get for not owning a tv.
- turbodog 16y ago
  http://www.theonion.com/articles/area-man-constantly-mentioning-he-doesnt-own-a-tel,429/ http://www.theonion.com/articles/area-man-constantly-mention...
- nostrademons 16y ago
  I think duck is insinuating that it's a reference to Jeff Atwood, Joel's cofounder for Stack Exchange.
- cfinke 16y ago
  http://www.theonion.com/articles/area-man-constantly-mentioning-he-doesnt-own-a-tel,429/ http://www.theonion.com/articles/area-man-constantly-mention...

rayvega 16y ago

The writing style of both the posted question and Joel's response gave off such a "Dear Abby" advice column vibe that it was a pleasant, surprising piece to read on a usual by-the-numbers Q&A site. If he ever returns to blogging, a "Dear Joel" format might be an entertaining read.

sizzla 16y ago

What the story might leave out is that Ashton's family is in a lot of trouble, Mom alcoholic, Dad MIA a long time ago. Mom's boyfriend is a physically abusive guy and thinking about that prick gave him strength to do just one more rep on his 200 lb bench-press routine. He could never quite fit in with the rich "middle class" kids from the big cities, preferring to drink Pabst Blue Ribbon with his high-school buddies, get stoned and listen to 80s hard-rock. On one or two occasions, he read Hacker News but thought ... well, the readers here might get angry but our farm boy thought all of them were sheltered dweebs who did not know a damn thing about how real life is like. On one of those occasions where their crowd was full of freshman girls who were really looking forward to getting wasted and laid that night, in drunken stupor Ashton heard Wayne calling out to him. He hasn't seen Wayne since he joined the Army 2 years ago. Man it was good to see him again, he's the kind of buddy who'd get in a fight for you without asking a single question. Wayne knows what's up, Ashton thought to himself as they talked about Wikileaks and f__king sh__ up. Giggly girls just kept interrupting his conversation and, irritated, he asked one of them if she would give away a government secret if all it was doing was covering someone's ass for raping some 9 year old dancing boys in Afghanistan. Janice just clammed up and some of her ditsiness immediately disappeared. Not having much to say, feeling put on the spot, a bit shamed and a bit embarassed, she remembered him well that night, but that's another story. Wayne and Ashton went to Bobbie's Diner to sober up with some greasy burgers and shoot the sh_t. Soon enough they weren't talking about tits, even though Janice had a really nice pair... Wayne kept telling him how much of cool stuff the military really does and how he could hook him up. Man, Wayne knows what's up, he thought to himself. Besides, if it came to working with guys like Wayne or the dweebs in San Francisco, it was a no brainer.... That's at least how Ashton thought about things back then... but then again, he was only 20. Nowadays he spends his time working for DISA on new worms. Everyone needs a botnet nowadays, even the government. It's really cool work, he learned a lot. But he knows damn well that's something he's never going to be able to talk about. At least Wayne gets to post bullshit on Twitter as th3j3st3r, he thinks to himself. His $80k salary is pretty damn good, and even his Mom is better, she dumped that dickwad. Though she is really getting old, all that alcohol just turned har brain to mush and she sometimes doesn't make sense. Maybe it'd be better he went to Silicon Valley, but then, just glancing over at the picture of him, Janice and their adorable 3 year old made him say "fuck no!" loud enough that his officemate looked up at him with that "dude, are you allright?" look.. He would've never met Jen and would probably still be chasing money like a wannabe pornstar in Los Angeles...

softbuilder 16y ago

All I can think about is Batman vs. Spock. I mean, it's Spock, right? It's gotta be.

puredemo 16y ago
Definitely batman, he has way more gear.
- psadauskas 16y ago
  Spock has a starship; I think that counts as more gear.
  - run4yourlives 16y ago
    It isn't Spock's ship, it's Kirk's. Spock just rides along, like Robin.
    - redthrowaway 16y ago
      He has a phaser; Batman won't even use a gun. Plus, he's got a tricorder that can detect somebody's location from miles away. No way in Hell Batman wins.
      - adrianN 16y ago
        Also, Vulcans are far stronger than humans, so Spock wins in hand-to-hand combat too.
        hugh3 16y ago
        Batman regularly beats much-stronger opponents. That shouldn't be an issue. Strength only matters if you actually manage to punch or grab Batman. And you're not gonna manage to punch or grab Batman. Spock only has one decent fighting move, and it targets the back of the neck. Batman's neck is so heavily armoured that he can't even turn his head.

kevinpet 16y ago

I thought about writing a blog post once because I think I've finally found the key insight to being a successful engineer. Then I realized it isn't long enough for a blog post. Simple rule: if you're the smartest person in the room, go look for a room with smarter people in it.

InfinityX0 16y ago
The only problem: I think we all believe we're the smartest person in the room, or at very least inflate our own "intelligence" some modicum amount, every time, so that someone who is actually 20 or so % smarter than us we actually see ourselves as slightly superior to. So, it's hard to make this judgment call, or, if we did, we'd be traveling a damn lot.
- ronnier 16y ago
  I always feel the dumbest or close to it (honestly). At my new gig I'll really feel bad :/
  - jodrellblank 16y ago
    You don't have to conflate feeling like the dumbest with feeling bad.
- PakG1 16y ago
  I think that's only true for people who've never been humbled. If you've been humbled, you are more easily able to question yourself and recognize if you're not the smartest in the room. At least, that's the way it worked for me. :)
  - wccrawford 16y ago
    I don't think someone needs to 'be humbled' to get it. They just need to be humble. It -is- possible to learn lessons without having your nose ground in it. Also, there's a difference between thinking you're smartest and knowing it. Mostly in attitude.

jasonkester 16y ago

It's hard to believe that we used to get a new story like this every few weeks. Joel is such an enjoyable author to read that it really doesn't matter what he's writing about. He could be writing about some random Distributed Version Control system you have no intention of using (and he has) and you could still be pretty sure you'd be in for a pleasant 15 minutes. I hope somebody can convince the guy to put stuff like this up on JoelOnSoftware. I mean sure, somebody might accuse him of blogging again (god forbid), but selfishly it would be nice not to have to rely on HackerNews to find little gems like this for me.

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RiderOfGiraffes 16y ago

This was a good read, yes, but did anyone here really learn anything new from it? I don't understand why it's go so many upvotes, and I'd really like to know what I've missed. "Write code that people use, and ship it." Was there anything else?

sudont 16y ago
"Impressing your boss is a crappy career goal. Even if your boss is amazing.” -- tptacek Linking the comment, give him the upvotes: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1994344 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1994344

trobinson 16y ago

by spelling his lastname correctly?

EGreg 16y ago

Wow! Spock vs Batman! I never thought about it!

jonsagara 16y ago

On a related note: http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/2010-12-11/ http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/2010-12-11/

bluesnowmonkey 16y ago

Best way: build something that you know will break, then be prepared to swoop in and fix it. Whenever you fix one bug, add another. Repeat ad infinitum. Some people will be impressed by your resourcefulness. Others will be angry that things break at all, but over time these people will get fed up and leave. Eventually a culture will develop wherein it is accepted that IT systems are just fundamentally unreliable. You will get stable long-term employment, a good salary, and regular (though superficial) praise and deference from everyone around you, including your boss. This strategy is extremely reliable. I have seen it used successfully at every company I've ever worked at, large and small, in multiple industries. Another approach is to develop an internal professional ethic and pursue it irrespective of office politics. It's not as good for career stability but you sleep better.