4 ms·

Is he going to be the CEO? That would be fantastic. He was super technical and super knowledgeable about Windows kernel. He was a true hacker.

by ww520 3y ago

tester756 3y ago
I don't think I'd want a "true hacker" to be a CEO. "true hacker" feels good when describing people at the top of engineering career paths like fellows, but for a CEO I'd rather have someone who's mix of decent tech skills and unparalleled business skills. I've had an opportunity to see companies where people didnt know how to do business and that was tragedy. That was way, way worse than non-technical manager trying to push solutions on ya. How he is doing from business perspective?
- ww520 3y ago
  Why not? Why can't a true hacker be a CEO? Bill Gates was a hacker. He implemented the Altair Basic language when computer languages were still in their infancy. Timothy Sweeney was a hacker and the creator of the Unreal Engine. He was the CEO of Epic. Eric Schmidt was a hacker. He wrote Lex. He became the CEO of Sun and Google. I would say Elon Musk was a hacker, as he was super technical.
  - Dalewyn 3y ago
    The job of a Chief Executive Officer is to run the company, which requires a distinctly different set of skills and talent from people who like getting their hands dirty at the workbench.
    - nicce 3y ago
      It depends a lot… Being ”a hacker” does not remove the required skills even if he has used his time for other things in the past. For software company, it could be useful if the CEO knows what software is and the company might find other business models than trending ”enshittification” route.
    - ww520 3y ago
      Why can't a hacker poccess both the skill sets? On the contrast I can show you pure business people failed at the CEO post. E.g. John Sculley ran Apple to the ground.
    - jocaal 3y ago
      > the job of a Chief Executive Officer is to run the company Thats a very vague job description. Executive's jobs are to make investments that will maximize shareholder return and an executive of an engineering company will only be able to make the best investments if they understand the technology they are selling and their customers. People have been noting how engineers have been running more and more companies, thats because more and more companies rely on technology to drive their growth.
    - jorvi 3y ago
      What I’m missing in all this.. there’s literally a role in the executive suite for the hacker-leader: CTO.
      - Dalewyn 3y ago
        Absolutely, but we're talking specifically about the CEO role.
  - OJFord 3y ago
    As much as Paul Allen? Would the latter have been as good a CEO? Assuming you can't be among the best of both, which is a natural if possibly wrong assumption, I think it's clear where Gates excelled and that was obviously great for Microsoft.
nikanj 3y ago
The best kernel hacker is not the best manager for people - which the CEO very much is.
- ww520 3y ago
  That's just quite presumptuous.
  - szundi 3y ago
    Backed by statistics. Although Google’s example shows that having a non-engineer souled guy is not a recipe for preventing enshittification and rot.
    - daelon 3y ago
      Google is a textbook example of both enshittification and rot.
    - Torkel 3y ago
      Are you saying that it is backed by statistics that good CEOs need to be good managers of people and also implying that engineers are not good managers of people? I would be interested in seeing that statistics. It feels wrong to me. In fact, I would argue that in tech the opposite is true. Go watch 'Downfall',the documentary on Netflix about Boeing and what happened when they dropped their engineering ethos and let in the "people persons" there.
- patmorgan23 3y ago
  Are you saying the best kernel hacker categorically makes someone not the best manager. Or are you staying the best kernel hacker does not necessarily make someone the best manager. I disagree with the former but agree with the latter. But I also want to add that the best leader for a technology company like Microsoft is not just some guy with an MBA but someone with both deep technical expertise and management/business experience. The CEO's of Intel, Nvidia, and AMD are all engineers by training.
belter 3y ago
I agree he is a true hacker. Have all his books. But he is CTO of Azure and we know what s%#%$$t show that is...
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]

Is he going to be the CEO? That would be fantastic. He was super technical and super knowledgeable about Windows kernel. He was a true hacker.

by ww520 3y ago

Is he going to be the CEO? That would be fantastic. He was super technical and super knowledgeable about Windows kernel. He was a true hacker.

tester756 3y ago

I don't think I'd want a "true hacker" to be a CEO. "true hacker" feels good when describing people at the top of engineering career paths like fellows, but for a CEO I'd rather have someone who's mix of decent tech skills and unparalleled business skills. I've had an opportunity to see companies where people didnt know how to do business and that was tragedy. That was way, way worse than non-technical manager trying to push solutions on ya. How he is doing from business perspective?

ww520 3y ago
Why not? Why can't a true hacker be a CEO? Bill Gates was a hacker. He implemented the Altair Basic language when computer languages were still in their infancy. Timothy Sweeney was a hacker and the creator of the Unreal Engine. He was the CEO of Epic. Eric Schmidt was a hacker. He wrote Lex. He became the CEO of Sun and Google. I would say Elon Musk was a hacker, as he was super technical.
- Dalewyn 3y ago
  The job of a Chief Executive Officer is to run the company, which requires a distinctly different set of skills and talent from people who like getting their hands dirty at the workbench.
  - nicce 3y ago
    It depends a lot… Being ”a hacker” does not remove the required skills even if he has used his time for other things in the past. For software company, it could be useful if the CEO knows what software is and the company might find other business models than trending ”enshittification” route.
  - ww520 3y ago
    Why can't a hacker poccess both the skill sets? On the contrast I can show you pure business people failed at the CEO post. E.g. John Sculley ran Apple to the ground.
  - jocaal 3y ago
    > the job of a Chief Executive Officer is to run the company Thats a very vague job description. Executive's jobs are to make investments that will maximize shareholder return and an executive of an engineering company will only be able to make the best investments if they understand the technology they are selling and their customers. People have been noting how engineers have been running more and more companies, thats because more and more companies rely on technology to drive their growth.
  - jorvi 3y ago
    What I’m missing in all this.. there’s literally a role in the executive suite for the hacker-leader: CTO.
    - Dalewyn 3y ago
      Absolutely, but we're talking specifically about the CEO role.
- OJFord 3y ago
  As much as Paul Allen? Would the latter have been as good a CEO? Assuming you can't be among the best of both, which is a natural if possibly wrong assumption, I think it's clear where Gates excelled and that was obviously great for Microsoft.

nikanj 3y ago

The best kernel hacker is not the best manager for people - which the CEO very much is.

ww520 3y ago
That's just quite presumptuous.
- szundi 3y ago
  Backed by statistics. Although Google’s example shows that having a non-engineer souled guy is not a recipe for preventing enshittification and rot.
  - daelon 3y ago
    Google is a textbook example of both enshittification and rot.
  - Torkel 3y ago
    Are you saying that it is backed by statistics that good CEOs need to be good managers of people and also implying that engineers are not good managers of people? I would be interested in seeing that statistics. It feels wrong to me. In fact, I would argue that in tech the opposite is true. Go watch 'Downfall',the documentary on Netflix about Boeing and what happened when they dropped their engineering ethos and let in the "people persons" there.
patmorgan23 3y ago
Are you saying the best kernel hacker categorically makes someone not the best manager. Or are you staying the best kernel hacker does not necessarily make someone the best manager. I disagree with the former but agree with the latter. But I also want to add that the best leader for a technology company like Microsoft is not just some guy with an MBA but someone with both deep technical expertise and management/business experience. The CEO's of Intel, Nvidia, and AMD are all engineers by training.

belter 3y ago

I agree he is a true hacker. Have all his books. But he is CTO of Azure and we know what s%#%$$t show that is...

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]