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Don't you think it makes more sense to contribute to existing open source projects than rewrite one without offering anything new? DRY? Don't we have way too m

Don't you think it makes more sense to contribute to existing open source projects than rewrite one without offering anything new? DRY? Don't we have way too many MVC frameworks? Time to consolidate imho.

mercurial 14y ago
It's debatable. You can have perfectly valid reasons to develop your own framework: - you want to propose something different compared to existing solutions in the field, where your vision is clearly incompatible with what already exists - the coding standards for an existing, similar solution is not acceptable, and unlikely to change On the other hand, many a "me-too" piece of software crops up simply because it can be easier to reinvent than to contribute (not implying that RailwaysJS is that). But TFA's point is also that server-side-heavy frameworks are a thing of the past, which is a fair argument.
stuffihavemade 14y ago
What looks sexier on your resume though: "Creator of backbone.js" (Not trying to pick on backbone since it's a great project, but you can read the entire source in an hour) or "Contributed to making AR 5% faster for certain queries" I'd much rather see 10 people put their time towards making one project better, then seeing 10 people start 10 divergent projects with dreams of becoming the next DHH, but I recognize that there are other factors at play.
- factorialboy 14y ago
  Contributor to a well known project > Creator of an obscure, unknown project
  - stuffihavemade 14y ago
    Sure, but a lot of programmers' dream (not mine) is to be the creator of the next big thing and gain accolades from other programmers. That won't happen if you're strictly contributing to other projects.
- zem 14y ago
  not sure which one you're implying sounds sexier, but if i were reading his resume, the AR contribution would definitely strike me as more significant. compare "wrote a fuse-based filesystem for whatever" versus "got several patches into the ext3 tree"
deleted 14y ago
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manys 14y ago
In an industry that valorizes github profiles as a substitute for resumes, how is duplication of effort to be avoided? It's like expecting everyone to use a different word for "managed" on their resumes.
bunderbunder 14y ago
Don't you think it makes more sense to contribute to existing open source projects than rewrite one without offering anything new? Depends on whose goals you're trying to further. If you're just working for the Man^H^H^H community at large, then yeah it makes the most sense to spend your free time on contributing to existing platforms. After all, any time spent not acting as a unit of production is time wasted. On the other hand, if you're doing it for your own enjoyment then it makes all the sense in the world to spend your free time working on whatever gives you the most enjoyment. There's nothing wrong with being satisfied with 40 hours a week of being a unit of production, and wanting to spend the rest of the time living for oneself.

mercurial 14y ago

It's debatable. You can have perfectly valid reasons to develop your own framework: - you want to propose something different compared to existing solutions in the field, where your vision is clearly incompatible with what already exists - the coding standards for an existing, similar solution is not acceptable, and unlikely to change On the other hand, many a "me-too" piece of software crops up simply because it can be easier to reinvent than to contribute (not implying that RailwaysJS is that). But TFA's point is also that server-side-heavy frameworks are a thing of the past, which is a fair argument.

stuffihavemade 14y ago

What looks sexier on your resume though: "Creator of backbone.js" (Not trying to pick on backbone since it's a great project, but you can read the entire source in an hour) or "Contributed to making AR 5% faster for certain queries" I'd much rather see 10 people put their time towards making one project better, then seeing 10 people start 10 divergent projects with dreams of becoming the next DHH, but I recognize that there are other factors at play.

factorialboy 14y ago
Contributor to a well known project > Creator of an obscure, unknown project
- stuffihavemade 14y ago
  Sure, but a lot of programmers' dream (not mine) is to be the creator of the next big thing and gain accolades from other programmers. That won't happen if you're strictly contributing to other projects.
zem 14y ago
not sure which one you're implying sounds sexier, but if i were reading his resume, the AR contribution would definitely strike me as more significant. compare "wrote a fuse-based filesystem for whatever" versus "got several patches into the ext3 tree"

deleted 14y ago

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manys 14y ago

In an industry that valorizes github profiles as a substitute for resumes, how is duplication of effort to be avoided? It's like expecting everyone to use a different word for "managed" on their resumes.

bunderbunder 14y ago

Don't you think it makes more sense to contribute to existing open source projects than rewrite one without offering anything new? Depends on whose goals you're trying to further. If you're just working for the Man^H^H^H community at large, then yeah it makes the most sense to spend your free time on contributing to existing platforms. After all, any time spent not acting as a unit of production is time wasted. On the other hand, if you're doing it for your own enjoyment then it makes all the sense in the world to spend your free time working on whatever gives you the most enjoyment. There's nothing wrong with being satisfied with 40 hours a week of being a unit of production, and wanting to spend the rest of the time living for oneself.