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You don’t get code without people, and the industry is finally realizing that it’s a net negative to have an asshole who produces great code but scares away mor

You don’t get code without people, and the industry is finally realizing that it’s a net negative to have an asshole who produces great code but scares away more productivity than they bring.

rixed 2y ago
Sure, one of the effect of CoCs is that it can be easier to get rid of an assohole who, even if he is productive, can have a negative impact (not a judgment about the case at hand wrt. Kent Overstreet). But there are so many other effects that it is still unclear to me wether, at the end of the day, CoCs attract or detter coders from joining / staying with a project. I've often found myself fighting the macho/childish/exclusive culture around tech, yet the reliance of formal CoCs to police our attitude have made me feel uncomfortable. I guess I'm not the only one.
Veen 2y ago
It's also a net negative to be burdened by incompetent coders with unjustified confidence and a mistaken sense of their own abilities, however polite they might be.
- wat10000 2y ago
  There are better ways of dealing with that than letting assholes roam free. It’s like tear-gassing your bar to keep out ruffians. It technically works, but it’s rather indiscriminate.
  - Veen 2y ago
    Are there? The assholes seem to be performing a useful service to the community, provided they aren't actually indiscriminate.
tpoacher 2y ago
This is not a new thing. Patrick Lencioni made a very good job in his "Five Dysfunctions of a Team" (2002), where he explained clearly why the "star developer" sometimes needs to be fired to boost net team productivity as a whole. What's new here is the benchmark for "what counts as an asshole". If you need to watch every single word in fear of giving anyone the opportunity to cry 'offense' and invoke a CoC panel on you, that's when all trust in the room goes out the window, and when you really start flushing productivity down the drain. So, not a net positive in my view.
- yencabulator 2y ago
  What really breaks me is that in this rules-oriented CoC world, "polite assholes" are allowed to do anything they want. Including ousting people who hold them back.

You don’t get code without people, and the industry is finally realizing that it’s a net negative to have an asshole who produces great code but scares away more productivity than they bring.

rixed 2y ago

Sure, one of the effect of CoCs is that it can be easier to get rid of an assohole who, even if he is productive, can have a negative impact (not a judgment about the case at hand wrt. Kent Overstreet). But there are so many other effects that it is still unclear to me wether, at the end of the day, CoCs attract or detter coders from joining / staying with a project. I've often found myself fighting the macho/childish/exclusive culture around tech, yet the reliance of formal CoCs to police our attitude have made me feel uncomfortable. I guess I'm not the only one.

Veen 2y ago

It's also a net negative to be burdened by incompetent coders with unjustified confidence and a mistaken sense of their own abilities, however polite they might be.

wat10000 2y ago
There are better ways of dealing with that than letting assholes roam free. It’s like tear-gassing your bar to keep out ruffians. It technically works, but it’s rather indiscriminate.
- Veen 2y ago
  Are there? The assholes seem to be performing a useful service to the community, provided they aren't actually indiscriminate.

tpoacher 2y ago

This is not a new thing. Patrick Lencioni made a very good job in his "Five Dysfunctions of a Team" (2002), where he explained clearly why the "star developer" sometimes needs to be fired to boost net team productivity as a whole. What's new here is the benchmark for "what counts as an asshole". If you need to watch every single word in fear of giving anyone the opportunity to cry 'offense' and invoke a CoC panel on you, that's when all trust in the room goes out the window, and when you really start flushing productivity down the drain. So, not a net positive in my view.

yencabulator 2y ago
What really breaks me is that in this rules-oriented CoC world, "polite assholes" are allowed to do anything they want. Including ousting people who hold them back.