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I'm quite glad he says "tongue firmly planted in cheek", because the idea that a successful programmers are "Programmers who are both well known and have create
by EwanToo 14y ago
I'm quite glad he says "tongue firmly planted in cheek", because the idea that a successful programmers are "Programmers who are both well known and have created entire businesses – perhaps even whole industries – around their code." is just plain silly.
I think what he means by success is "money", which might well work for him, but doesn't for many others.
- michaelochurch 14y agoI thought this was pretty insightful: These programmers have given themselves the real freedom zero: the freedom to decide for themselves what they want to work on. That is what it means to be successful. If you don't decide for yourself how you work, what you work on, and when, you're not a successful person. Perhaps as a statement about the shoddy state of our society, he includes the assumption that one has to be a business owner-- and rich-- to get there (which is not strictly true, as Valve is establishing with the success of open allocation).
- EwanToo 14y agoI'm pretty sure I'd consider Richard Stallman and Linus Torsvald to be "successful", without being business owners.
- michaelochurch 14y agoRight, and I acknowledged that in mentioning Valve. What you need is the freedom to work on what you want. Those guys are sufficiently well established as to have it. But that's very rare.
- ankushsharma 14y agoindeed, the person only doesn't have any clue of being a programmer and the views he formed are of a non-programmer