Respect and Disappointment - comp.lang.ruby

Message from discussion Respect and Disappointment

David Heinemeier Hansson

View profile

More options Mar 31 2005, 5:26 pm

Newsgroups: comp.lang.ruby

From: David Heinemeier Hansson <da...@loudthinking.com>

Date: Fri, 1 Apr 2005 07:26:16 +0900

Local: Thurs, Mar 31 2005 5:26 pm

Subject: Re: Respect and Disappointment

  Reply to author
  |
  Forward
  | Print
  | View thread
  | Show original
  | Report this message
  | Find messages by this author
  

> You need to do some research on psychology. You really need to be
> looking at the person and their ability, not at the fact they strongly
> dislike Bovril and have a passion for Sushi.

To me, a person is defined in large parts by their likes and dislikes.
It reflects their view on the world and in turn their cultural fit in
an organization. Some preferences are more relevant than others, so
while sharing food preferences would perhaps make it easier to gel for
lunch breaks, your choice of computing environment tells me something
about your approach to software development.

For the type of applications 37signals (and others in the same sphere)
pursue, Apple are on many fronts a role model. The shared appreciation
of Apple's products is an important component of the company culture.
Just like a shared appreciation of the open source benefits is an
important component.

The mash of shared values, aspirations, and appreciations creates a
unity that makes it easier to operate efficiently. We can communicate
by alluding to references and settle arguments by drawing on
authoritarian examples.

As such, I'm a bit surprised by the apparent controversial nature of
the original posting. Sure, it was worded with enough sting to likely
cause a reaction. But that 37signals, and companies in general, base
hiring decisions on a sound technical/cultural/political fit surprise
me to come as a surprise.

While raw programming talent most certainly is an important facet of
the hiring game, it is by far not the only one. Or even the most
important one. I'd take a good programmer with a good fit on the three
axis as described above any day over a superstar with a bad fit.

> Rails will be bigger and better with a strong Windows community. As
> will any other OSS. Given you claim there is a political stance in
> your choice, your choice is actively working against the widest
> possible adoption of OSS.

I heartily welcome a strong Windows community on Rails. In part because
I see getting on Rails as a great way of in turn getting people onto OS
X/'nix. Just as I see getting on Rails as an introduction to Ruby.

And while being on Windows doesn't help your chances getting a job at
37signals, it doesn't mean that I devalue your clever patches or other
contributions to Rails. I believe you would be a happier and more
productive participant if you were doing it from a platform like OS X,
but if that's not in the cards (for lack of funds, corporate policies,
or whatever), I'll cope.

In other words, to use or contribute to Rails doesn't require as close
a TCP fit as I would demand from a coworker. I believe you're going to
have a more enjoyable ride in that community if the fit _is_ closer,
but it's not a permission pass.

As an example of good fit, I don't think it's a surprise that pretty
much all of the Rails core contributors are Mac users. That Rails heavy
shops like Robot Coop (43 Things), Combustion Labs, and others are
using Macs. Of course they didn't have to, but it was a natural fit.

> For some, most appropriate may include a quasi-political stance, which
> seems to be your case. Don't make the mistake that everyone makes
> software decisions on those lines.

Oh, I know they don't. The market share of the predominate OS in the
world hasn't eluded me :). I am saying that I have a much harder time
relating to (and in some cases understanding) people who choose that
path.

> Final comment. Why didn't you write something intelligible like the
> posting you made here rather than the stuff on the blog that caused
> this bother?

The conclusions you choose to draw from a handful of paragraphs in a
blog posting are your own. But okay, I concede that a longer posting
not written at 4:22 AM would have had a larger chance of explaining my
position in full. I don't know if it would have caused less of a stir,
but perhaps there would have been fewer questions about motives.

I also readily concede the provocative nature of the posting. I believe
that the way forward consists of both some rubbing against and with the
furs. Since my threshold on personal attacks (arrogant, stupid,
stubborn, childish, ridiculous) is pretty high, I'm okay taking
aggressive push-back on controversial stances.

And there's nothing like a spring cleansing :). Just as the
temperatures in Denmark are rising from just a couple into the tens. A
change of season. Maybe you should consider the occasion ripe to do a
chance of computing environment? I know this great platform... oh,
wait. My evangelistic record looped. Sorry about that. Should be at
least 3 months before we try a replay from a different angle.
--
David Heinemeier Hansson,
http://www.basecamphq.com/ -- Web-based Project Management
http://www.rubyonrails.org/ -- Web-application framework for Ruby
http://www.loudthinking.com/ -- Broadcasting Brain

Reply to author Forward