4 ms·

Its weird to think how John Carmack went from .plan files to Facebook Posts. I think it might be safe to say he had the most widely read .plan file in existenc

Its weird to think how John Carmack went from .plan files to Facebook Posts. I think it might be safe to say he had the most widely read .plan file in existence. Wish he would go back to it.

jakear 7y ago
I suspect it’s not his decision to make.
- pvg 7y ago
  You think someone is telling Carmack where he can and can't post? Why one earth would they do that? And why on earth would he put up with it?
  - setpatchaddress 7y ago
    It doesn't have to be coercive. Some of us would like to know what the people who hire us are up to even if we don't personally have any interest in it.
  - jakear 7y ago
    More that the company’s culture says you should post things using the company’s platform, and to not do so might be making a statement he doesn’t want to make. Otherwise, why would he move away from .plan?
    - tqi 7y ago
      Could it be that a lot of people don't know what a .plan file is, or how to read content from one?
      - roghummal 7y ago
        If John Carmack started updating a .plan, people would figure out how to check a .plan.
    - pvg 7y ago
      You said 'it wasn't his decision to make' not 'perhaps he wants to use his employer's platform'. If you don't want to imply it's coercive, you should phrase it in a way that doesn't imply it's coercive.
      - jakear 7y ago
        I believe it’s a “perhaps he feels he should be using his employer’s platform”. A murky coercion middle ground.
        pvg 7y ago
        Ok, but "I don't think it's his decision" is then a weirdly overwrought (or less charitably, thoughtlessly provocative) thing to say. It's totally his decision. Nor do I think anyone at FB would be stupid enough to tell him where to post random ffmpeg things. He's also active on twitter - as you can see in the post we're discussing.
- cookiecaper 7y ago
  That's totally absurd. Luminaries like Carmack are anything but prisoners; any firm in SV would pay big bucks to say "John Carmack works here". Facebook may be a big conglomerate these days, and they may not be the cool kid on the block anymore, but that doesn't mean that they're idiots. If anything, they treasure the presence of someone like Carmack all the more, because it's no longer reputionally-free for people like him to come on board. I'm sure that Facebook is appreciative when he blogs on their platform, but it's patently ridiculous to pretend that anyone would -- or could -- force it. In fact, Facebook has already been forced to pay at least dozens of millions of dollars essentially as a direct consequence of employing Carmack [0], and I'd be willing to bet they'd happily pay (at least) dozens of millions more. If you want your mind blown even harder, look up some of the paperwork around the Waymo / Uber debacle [1]. SV companies pay big bucks for this type of talent, even the ones you haven't heard of, like Anthony Levandowski. If the roll of the dice is in your favor, SV stardom is at least as valuable as Hollywood stardom (and, for the most part anyway, you still get to walk around in public unharrassed). Disclaimer: I have no special connection with any of the companies or people mentioned, I don't know the inside baseball, and this is all conjecture. But at least it's better supported than yours. ;) [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZeniMax_v._Oculus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZeniMax_v._Oculus [1] https://www.cnbc.com/2017/04/03/waymos-uber-lawsuit-reveals-anthony-levandowskis-120m-pay.html https://www.cnbc.com/2017/04/03/waymos-uber-lawsuit-reveals-...
  - wavefunction 7y ago
    Picturing The Zuck leading two mutant mandogs on leashes: the audience is horrified to realize they're Yann LeCun and John Carmack, though 'heavily modified' and almost unrecognizable in their snarling ferocity. "This fist holds the Ego. This fist holds the Id. I bring you a new existence: the GlobalCoin. I came up with that myself. As Super-Ego."
    - spongo 7y ago
      I appreciate your imagination. [not the person you responded to]
  - MaupitiBlue 7y ago
- Barrin92 7y ago
  John Carmack can blog about ffmpeg bugs wherever he wants. Like there is no way stopping him from doing that is even remotely legal. He probably just posts on facebook because it's convenient and reaches a lot of people.
  - ClassyJacket 7y ago
    I distinctly remember him saying he was only creating a facebook account because Oculus was bought by them. I strongly doubt he would be on there at all if it wasn't for the acquisition.
  - jakear 7y ago
    I don’t mean that he is legally bound to the platform. Just that the company culture is to use the platform, and he may see not using the platform as making a statement he does not want to make.
- russtrotter 7y ago
  I don't think the statement is entirely unreasonable given that JC is a facebook employee, he's one of the tech masterminds behind their VR initiatives and the optics of having the tech face of Occulus dog-food your social media platform is important to at least some of the brass there.
kwijibob 7y ago
Yes I wondered this also. It is naturally to use his employers platform. However I wonder if in 10-15 years this post will be lost in Facebook changes, but the .plan files from the 1990s will still be available somewhere.
- enneff 7y ago
  Just as the .plan files were mirrored by some enthusiasts, so too will his Facebook posts.
  - whatshisface 7y ago
    Are they mirrored already? I don't want to visit facebook.
    - hoseja 7y ago
      In this very comment section. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20036710 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20036710
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
ekianjo 7y ago
Maybe he was asked to publish all his communication on Facebook as part of his career move. Along with a large compensation. Unless he really believes Facebook is the right place to post this kind of things nowadays, who knows?

Its weird to think how John Carmack went from .plan files to Facebook Posts. I think it might be safe to say he had the most widely read .plan file in existence. Wish he would go back to it.

jakear 7y ago

I suspect it’s not his decision to make.

pvg 7y ago
You think someone is telling Carmack where he can and can't post? Why one earth would they do that? And why on earth would he put up with it?
- setpatchaddress 7y ago
  It doesn't have to be coercive. Some of us would like to know what the people who hire us are up to even if we don't personally have any interest in it.
- jakear 7y ago
  More that the company’s culture says you should post things using the company’s platform, and to not do so might be making a statement he doesn’t want to make. Otherwise, why would he move away from .plan?
  - tqi 7y ago
    Could it be that a lot of people don't know what a .plan file is, or how to read content from one?
    - roghummal 7y ago
      If John Carmack started updating a .plan, people would figure out how to check a .plan.
  - pvg 7y ago
    You said 'it wasn't his decision to make' not 'perhaps he wants to use his employer's platform'. If you don't want to imply it's coercive, you should phrase it in a way that doesn't imply it's coercive.
    - jakear 7y ago
      I believe it’s a “perhaps he feels he should be using his employer’s platform”. A murky coercion middle ground.
      - pvg 7y ago
        Ok, but "I don't think it's his decision" is then a weirdly overwrought (or less charitably, thoughtlessly provocative) thing to say. It's totally his decision. Nor do I think anyone at FB would be stupid enough to tell him where to post random ffmpeg things. He's also active on twitter - as you can see in the post we're discussing.
cookiecaper 7y ago
That's totally absurd. Luminaries like Carmack are anything but prisoners; any firm in SV would pay big bucks to say "John Carmack works here". Facebook may be a big conglomerate these days, and they may not be the cool kid on the block anymore, but that doesn't mean that they're idiots. If anything, they treasure the presence of someone like Carmack all the more, because it's no longer reputionally-free for people like him to come on board. I'm sure that Facebook is appreciative when he blogs on their platform, but it's patently ridiculous to pretend that anyone would -- or could -- force it. In fact, Facebook has already been forced to pay at least dozens of millions of dollars essentially as a direct consequence of employing Carmack [0], and I'd be willing to bet they'd happily pay (at least) dozens of millions more. If you want your mind blown even harder, look up some of the paperwork around the Waymo / Uber debacle [1]. SV companies pay big bucks for this type of talent, even the ones you haven't heard of, like Anthony Levandowski. If the roll of the dice is in your favor, SV stardom is at least as valuable as Hollywood stardom (and, for the most part anyway, you still get to walk around in public unharrassed). Disclaimer: I have no special connection with any of the companies or people mentioned, I don't know the inside baseball, and this is all conjecture. But at least it's better supported than yours. ;) [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZeniMax_v._Oculus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZeniMax_v._Oculus [1] https://www.cnbc.com/2017/04/03/waymos-uber-lawsuit-reveals-anthony-levandowskis-120m-pay.html https://www.cnbc.com/2017/04/03/waymos-uber-lawsuit-reveals-...
- wavefunction 7y ago
  Picturing The Zuck leading two mutant mandogs on leashes: the audience is horrified to realize they're Yann LeCun and John Carmack, though 'heavily modified' and almost unrecognizable in their snarling ferocity. "This fist holds the Ego. This fist holds the Id. I bring you a new existence: the GlobalCoin. I came up with that myself. As Super-Ego."
  - spongo 7y ago
    I appreciate your imagination. [not the person you responded to]
- MaupitiBlue 7y ago
Barrin92 7y ago
John Carmack can blog about ffmpeg bugs wherever he wants. Like there is no way stopping him from doing that is even remotely legal. He probably just posts on facebook because it's convenient and reaches a lot of people.
- ClassyJacket 7y ago
  I distinctly remember him saying he was only creating a facebook account because Oculus was bought by them. I strongly doubt he would be on there at all if it wasn't for the acquisition.
- jakear 7y ago
  I don’t mean that he is legally bound to the platform. Just that the company culture is to use the platform, and he may see not using the platform as making a statement he does not want to make.
russtrotter 7y ago
I don't think the statement is entirely unreasonable given that JC is a facebook employee, he's one of the tech masterminds behind their VR initiatives and the optics of having the tech face of Occulus dog-food your social media platform is important to at least some of the brass there.

kwijibob 7y ago

Yes I wondered this also. It is naturally to use his employers platform. However I wonder if in 10-15 years this post will be lost in Facebook changes, but the .plan files from the 1990s will still be available somewhere.

enneff 7y ago
Just as the .plan files were mirrored by some enthusiasts, so too will his Facebook posts.
- whatshisface 7y ago
  Are they mirrored already? I don't want to visit facebook.
  - hoseja 7y ago
    In this very comment section. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20036710 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20036710

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

ekianjo 7y ago

Maybe he was asked to publish all his communication on Facebook as part of his career move. Along with a large compensation. Unless he really believes Facebook is the right place to post this kind of things nowadays, who knows?