5 ms·

I could see not wanting to support a tool. I've written tools that automate processes in useful ways but the interfaces aren't perfect and you need some base kn

I could see not wanting to support a tool. I've written tools that automate processes in useful ways but the interfaces aren't perfect and you need some base knowledge to understand how they work. I don't want to spend my time improving and supporting those tools. I wrote them to reduce the amount of work I have to do, not add yet another responsibility. I've also made the mistake of sharing my tools only to find criticism but no offer to help make improvements. Fuck em, wasting my time.

willcipriano 5y ago
If the incentives are right, that effort is worth it. By incentives I'm not talking about a $15 TGIFridays gift card and a mention at the company meeting, I mean a meaningful portion of the value generated, rewarded quickly not "maybe next annual review". Many organizations punish the members who work hard with more uncompensated work like you have described.
- notreallyserio 5y ago
  Oh for sure. If they offered stock or options I'd take them up on it. Cash? I already make a good salary. Kudos? lol.
  - Cullinet 5y ago
    I don't think it's lol worthy despite having been the other side of the situation for most of my career. A patent you'd want credit for. A journal paper co-authorship likewise. I'm very much in favour - especially for non contract LOB works - journalling moral copyrights formally. Of course we've Github and the similar now, which is amazing, if you use it for such. I am currently working on a possibility to open source a range of advertising trading middleware (dates me, huh?) with the establishment of a Community Company* copyright holding structure that rewards individual contribution regardless of origin, weighted by calling / execution paths / additional necessary weighting as necessary, enforced by statutory articles of association bound in incorporation. * Industrial and Provident Society : https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_and_provident_society https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_and_provident_soc... articles of association bind the company members to the terms of their articles which are imbued with the same statutory powers of Companies Act, which has 400+ statutory summary criminal offenses adjudicable in the Companies Court. Companies Court, like Ecclesiastical, isn't very well known to even exist, even among the legal profession. However, very much unlike claims heard in the Chancery Division (which must be for greater than fifty thousand British pounds or go hence to the County Courts which exist for extension of the High Court originally for handling the volume property claims, and before which I won't give the most robust tort better than a bitten nickel worth chance.) edit was unfinished, mea : unlike in Chancery, claims in Companies Court go quickly, because the weight is summary and summary findings of breaches of Companies Act are Criminal offenses, and therefore will shape the further claims evaluation considerably. It's almost a British Delaware system, and in keeping with the theme of this discussion, I was reluctant to write this, lest case load spoil the advantages!
peterangular 5y ago
> I've also made the mistake of sharing my tools only to find criticism but no offer to help make improvements. Fuck em, wasting my time. Have experienced a ton of this too. One of the biggest internal tool mistakes of my career was to ship a tool like op's: Got yelled at for using company time to work on non-sanctioned work only to have the person yelling at me end up using my tool for 6 years. Colleagues would get pissy with me when drift happened never updating the tool themselves. Was in a weird position where I had no actual "sanctioned time" to work on the tool but was still required to support it. But... the biggest rub: my manager (yeller from above) took all of the credit when upper execs eventually caught wind as client-facing changes were happening literally days faster. Something about "building a dynamic team where people are allowed to innovate" - my name wasn't even brought up according to the exec that I was close with. If I could go back and redo everything I'd hide my work as it caused me nothing but pain, suffering, and bitterness. The reward for good work in so many places is a crack of the whip and more work.
- Cullinet 5y ago
  sounds like you should have enforced your moral copyright for credit. Being denied recognition as the creator of a work is a offence and the circumstances look like a judge would direct a jury to apply statutory punitive damages, making it a relatively straightforward no win no fee case to take. IANArealL just had the role as a general partner with unlimited liability for 23 years in a computational advertising company.
- technofiend 5y ago
  To prevent someone taking credit you add a splash screen when the tool starts with your name on it. Same with the help -> about section.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
dotancohen 5y ago
> I could see not wanting to support a tool. I had one time written a small tool to reformat a CSV file for one of the office workers. One day she comes to me to make some change to the tool, but I was extraordinarily busy with my real work - and I only came in that day because there was a fire burning that I was best suited to putting out. So my refusal to drop the emergency that I was fixing (on my day off) in order to modify this tool that had already saved her probably tens of hours of tedium, let to resentment and ultimately to me being fired from the place. I'm in a much better place now ))
- behnamoh 5y ago
  >> So my refusal to drop the emergency that I was fixing (on my day off) in order to modify this tool that had already saved her probably tens of hours of tedium, let to resentment and ultimately to me being fired from the place. Man, we live in a society… glad you are in a better place now!
  - dotancohen 5y ago
    Yeah, the people who could appreciate me, the developers and developer management, were ultimately less influential than an administrative staff member. And this was a software business, writing software for clients. Not a software division of some larger entity. One grudge is far more powerful than a chord of appreciation.

willcipriano 5y ago

If the incentives are right, that effort is worth it. By incentives I'm not talking about a $15 TGIFridays gift card and a mention at the company meeting, I mean a meaningful portion of the value generated, rewarded quickly not "maybe next annual review". Many organizations punish the members who work hard with more uncompensated work like you have described.

notreallyserio 5y ago
Oh for sure. If they offered stock or options I'd take them up on it. Cash? I already make a good salary. Kudos? lol.
- Cullinet 5y ago
  I don't think it's lol worthy despite having been the other side of the situation for most of my career. A patent you'd want credit for. A journal paper co-authorship likewise. I'm very much in favour - especially for non contract LOB works - journalling moral copyrights formally. Of course we've Github and the similar now, which is amazing, if you use it for such. I am currently working on a possibility to open source a range of advertising trading middleware (dates me, huh?) with the establishment of a Community Company* copyright holding structure that rewards individual contribution regardless of origin, weighted by calling / execution paths / additional necessary weighting as necessary, enforced by statutory articles of association bound in incorporation. * Industrial and Provident Society : https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_and_provident_society https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_and_provident_soc... articles of association bind the company members to the terms of their articles which are imbued with the same statutory powers of Companies Act, which has 400+ statutory summary criminal offenses adjudicable in the Companies Court. Companies Court, like Ecclesiastical, isn't very well known to even exist, even among the legal profession. However, very much unlike claims heard in the Chancery Division (which must be for greater than fifty thousand British pounds or go hence to the County Courts which exist for extension of the High Court originally for handling the volume property claims, and before which I won't give the most robust tort better than a bitten nickel worth chance.) edit was unfinished, mea : unlike in Chancery, claims in Companies Court go quickly, because the weight is summary and summary findings of breaches of Companies Act are Criminal offenses, and therefore will shape the further claims evaluation considerably. It's almost a British Delaware system, and in keeping with the theme of this discussion, I was reluctant to write this, lest case load spoil the advantages!

peterangular 5y ago

> I've also made the mistake of sharing my tools only to find criticism but no offer to help make improvements. Fuck em, wasting my time. Have experienced a ton of this too. One of the biggest internal tool mistakes of my career was to ship a tool like op's: Got yelled at for using company time to work on non-sanctioned work only to have the person yelling at me end up using my tool for 6 years. Colleagues would get pissy with me when drift happened never updating the tool themselves. Was in a weird position where I had no actual "sanctioned time" to work on the tool but was still required to support it. But... the biggest rub: my manager (yeller from above) took all of the credit when upper execs eventually caught wind as client-facing changes were happening literally days faster. Something about "building a dynamic team where people are allowed to innovate" - my name wasn't even brought up according to the exec that I was close with. If I could go back and redo everything I'd hide my work as it caused me nothing but pain, suffering, and bitterness. The reward for good work in so many places is a crack of the whip and more work.

Cullinet 5y ago
sounds like you should have enforced your moral copyright for credit. Being denied recognition as the creator of a work is a offence and the circumstances look like a judge would direct a jury to apply statutory punitive damages, making it a relatively straightforward no win no fee case to take. IANArealL just had the role as a general partner with unlimited liability for 23 years in a computational advertising company.
technofiend 5y ago
To prevent someone taking credit you add a splash screen when the tool starts with your name on it. Same with the help -> about section.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]

dotancohen 5y ago

> I could see not wanting to support a tool. I had one time written a small tool to reformat a CSV file for one of the office workers. One day she comes to me to make some change to the tool, but I was extraordinarily busy with my real work - and I only came in that day because there was a fire burning that I was best suited to putting out. So my refusal to drop the emergency that I was fixing (on my day off) in order to modify this tool that had already saved her probably tens of hours of tedium, let to resentment and ultimately to me being fired from the place. I'm in a much better place now ))

behnamoh 5y ago
>> So my refusal to drop the emergency that I was fixing (on my day off) in order to modify this tool that had already saved her probably tens of hours of tedium, let to resentment and ultimately to me being fired from the place. Man, we live in a society… glad you are in a better place now!
- dotancohen 5y ago
  Yeah, the people who could appreciate me, the developers and developer management, were ultimately less influential than an administrative staff member. And this was a software business, writing software for clients. Not a software division of some larger entity. One grudge is far more powerful than a chord of appreciation.