

How to Lose Developers & Alienate Others - myusuf3
http://www.mahdiyusuf.com/post/5001827532/how-to-lose-developers-alienate-others

======
ssmoot
So he needed to be more sincere but less personal, and it can't have a hint
that your name was just substituted in?

That's an awfully high bar considering the next guy is going to complain that
the email that suits you takes itself too seriously, shows that these are just
biz-heads looking to ride a wave and can't connect on a meaningful level.

I think you're making much ado about nothing. Ignore the email if you want. Or
use it as an opening just to get a feel for the team. Either way, what you've
done here just feels crass. Because they weren't telepathic, and stepped on
some unwritten rule or another, you call them out publicly and target them for
ridicule.

We've all seen much worse when it comes to these types of emails. Time is
limited. If you're willing to give people the benefit of a doubt there's as
often as not someone genuine and decent on the other end of the line, even if
the pitch ends up being something you're not too keen on.

Maybe it shows a lack of experience on my part, but it does seem to me that
_someone_ went to some pains to write up that email, even if it was used as a
form, and it shows IMO.

~~~
myusuf3
I don't know what article you read. but i clearly stated that Andrew is
talented and he isn't the only one at fault for this behavior. It maybe crass
but its simply not targeting them for ridicule. I am simply giving my point of
view on a issue that i feel could be avoided if the writer of the email were
bothered enough to add a couple of humane sentences to build a rapport. As
supposed generically copying everyone, in order to get developer attention. He
clearly did put time into a automated message. As did I here:

Dear ssmoot,

Thanks for the comment.

Sincerely myusuf3

~~~
ssmoot
Maybe I was being overly sensitive. I do think you could've got your point
across as easily without naming names though, or scrubbing the email to
protect the "innocent".

Since you did name names, I doubt any amount of compliments would avoid
leaving a bad taste.

As far as the message, maybe I'm just in a funny mood, but it strikes me as a
great balance, and while I mentally get less excited about a project whenever
I see "MySQL", it is probably about the nicest I've seen.

In an attempt to be on topic though: If we're going to critique mailers like
this, targeting the ones with the extensive Qualifications/Requirements list
from recruiters to be allowed to work with their client's run-of-the-mill app
seems fair enough.

Here's one of my recent ones:

    
    
      Qualified candidates will possess the following skills and experience:
    
      *   A proven background in Ruby on Rails design and development
      *   Expertise in MVC architecture and design
      *   Experience in MySQL RDBMS
      *   Test Driven and Agile Development experience
      *   If you have experience with other languages (e.g. PHP, Python, Objective-C), frameworks, multimedia, etc. all the better.</quote>
    

Ok, so Rails+MySQL is about as vanilla as it gets in my book. MVC architecture
and design though? Seriously, you can count the number of Rails developers
who've put any thought whatsoever into that on one hand. In Rails it just
"is". You don't think about it. Compare to <http://codebetter.com/>. _Years_
after I left .NET and stopped following the blog yet these guys are still
talking about fundamentals of OOAD in-depth, and exploring testability with an
output from just this one multi-blog that probably equals every Ruby blogger
ever. ;-) I mean, if you rule out the blogging about how you should use the
latest vegetable themed testing framework that business people are going to
use to drive requirements and change the world anyways.

When I see "Agile Development" in a job pitch I automatically think "cowboys
without a plan" these days. If you have flexible scope and/or deadlines driven
by client collaboration and/or goal-oriented operations, make sure that's
clear if you're going to mention the "A"-word. Without expanding on your
process using the "Agile" phrase just comes off as shifting responsibility to
developers to get it right without due-diligence from the business side. And
when it's not right, or the requirements or goals are not well understood,
it's typically going to be the Developer making up the difference by putting
in extra hours to compensate for the lack of planning, with no realistic
expectation of renumeration for his/her time.

And again, I probably should know more about MySQL. I never did master it.
After making the switch to PostgreSQL I managed to drastically reduce the
effort required to get complex queries to perform as I'd expect a modern RDBMS
should (my previous experience being with MSSQL, which other than portability
issues is really an outstanding product in my book, really the only MS product
I'm a fan of) and didn't look back. That's my own hangup based on my own
personal experience though I suppose. It's probably not fair to mark down a
mental demerit for it. I do anyways. ;-)

------
nhangen
Dozens, if not hundreds or thousands of HN readers would probably enjoy
getting an email like that. Perhaps you can't see a good thing for what it is?

There are worse problems to have.

------
democracy
A sharp eye may optimize the code a bit:

 _boolean isTopGun = isAuthorTopGun(author);

if (isTopGun) { author.setAttitude(Attitudes.DICK); } else {
author.setAttitude(Attitudes.DICK); }_

------
rkon
I find it a little odd that you complain about the quality of content on HN,
but when I look through your submissions you have 17 links to your own blog
and 0 to other sources.

Just sayin'

edit: Also, the definition of 'bacn' is that it's _not_ unsolicited.

~~~
myusuf3
That's true; it's a tool I use. I will contribute what I find interesting and
believe in. Doesn't mean i am abusing it. the community will upvote what they
like.

