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I think we often easily attribute these problems to the "management" types but do start-ups with founders as programmers treat other programmers any better?

• michaelochurch 14y ago
  That is a good question. I've seen it go both ways. Part of being a defeated tribe is that you have defectors: young programmers who are tapped for management and change colors. Those are the worst, because they tend to view their older colleagues who are "still programming" as losers and it shows. It may not be politically correct, but I've found the term "Uncle Tom Engineer" to be useful in some cases. On the other hand, there are true-blue engineers who set up amazing companies, like HP before it was hijacked by MBA types (culminating in the Fiorina disaster) and Valve. There are also non-engineers who Get It and start great companies. So there's probably a correlation between engineering experience and respect for the craft, but it's not a hard-line distinction. The problem isn't "businessmen" so much as the attitude that comes with a lot of those folks. It's not what they do that pisses me off-- that's a necessary function-- but the paternalistic management nonsense.
  • paganel 14y ago
    > but the paternalistic management nonsense. Just a couple of days ago I barely managed not to answer to one of my superiors' emails with something along the lines of "hey, let's quit with this paternalistic BS, it doesn't really matter who's saying what around the office or at what hour people come in at the office, it only matters if we're doing our job properly which means bringing more money in compared to what goes out". I then remembered than I'm not a manager, but only a programmer, and that I shouldn't worry about this sort of stuff.