

So You've Hired a Hacker - jgg
http://jonathanscorner.com/hacker/

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mkramlich
He lost me immediately with the first box entry for Managers. In my experience
there's been a stronger correlation with morality and contribution in hackers
than in managers. And note he is using the definition of hackers as
"programmers" not as "breaks into systems". If he used the latter, I could
agree with his generalization. But in this case it seems backward.

~~~
joe_the_user
He's not talking about either an ordinary programmer or a cracker but the
Mythical Genius Hacker(tm): _Yes, I am serious; a hacker on a roll may be able
to produce, in a period of a few months, something that a small development
group (say, 7-8 people) would have a hard time getting together over a year._
Whether claims of programmer productivity variation are true or not, I'm
dubious that the most productive programmer necessarily goes by the title
"Hacker" or necessarily operates in the "mad genius" fashion.

As a software engineer, I'd encourage managers to avoid the "hacker" who is
more productive because only he understands the poorly designed system he
created. The genius hacker myth is counter-productive here.

~~~
gmjosack
We had a "Genius Hacker(tm)" where I currently work. He got projects done
quick and they stayed working for a long time. He left and we needed to extend
some projects or something would break on another. Everyone agreed, it was
some of the most horrible code any of us had ever seen. Also, over-engineering
is an understatement. He still plagues us years later as we find his legacy
floating around.

~~~
ChRoss
I think sometime poor design or horrible code is quite subjective. For
example, when I write complex query for performance critical system, and no
other colleagues understand, is that my fault?

~~~
gmjosack
I'm talking about metaclasses in Python for the hell of it. I'm talking one-
liners that consist of map, lambda, map, lambda, filter, map, map, map, join.
I'm talking about inconsistent indenting and one letter variable names
everywhere. I'm talking about huge monolithic code bases, all of which he
wrote, containing code copy and pasted from each other instead of making a
library. I could go on but I'll spare you. I agree that "poor design" and
"horrible code" is quite subjective but sometimes it's an easier call than
others.

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aliston
I've become more skeptical of this supposed Hacker/Manager dichotomy as of
late. Not only is there "variety among humans"... there is variety within
humans. In particular, in my experience most GOOD managers ARE hackers. Most
great hackers are concerned with the broader implications of what they are
working on.

~~~
alnayyir
I think the analysis is obsolete, but the specific advice on handling a
programmer employee is accurate, if dated.

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jjs
Or, _The ESTJ's guide to managing an INTP_.

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evo_9
Wow, this is actually very helpful. I just sent it to my two business partners
- both business guys - and I honestly think it's going to help them sleep
easier.

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johnl87
The author treats a "hacker" as some kind of sub-human species and write an
article on owning a "hacker" that reads as if it was a book on owning a dog or
something. Hacker != Lack of social skills. "Insults skills of other workers,
doesn't know how to dress, plays games on company time, talks to friends on
the phone." I don't know what kind of people this guy hires, but I definitely
would not hire someone like that. Let's not box everyone who like to write
code into a stereotype. I seriously doubt this is based on reality.

~~~
swedegeek
Well, on the flip side, he also writes about managers as if they are all
stamped out from the same cookie cutter mold. As a former hacker/engineer now
manager, I generally thought this way off on both sides of the fence. And I
laugh at the notion that I "closely resemble about 40% of the population." I
can maybe relate to that much of the population, but resemble them... nope.

As far as the author's understanding of "hackers" and all their social
shortcomings, those are clearly extreme to the point of being generally false.
Initially I was rather shocked this could still be someone's understanding of
hierarchy in software organizations. Then, I read his "bibliography" at the
end. His main source for comparing managers and hackers has a copyright of
1984. WTF!?! Sure there are a small handful of technology related books that
withstood such a test of time (e.g. The Mythical Man-Month), but obviously
"Please Understand Me" is not one that should still be quoted for relevance...
at least not the way he's using it.

The other thing to note is the author's bio. He is beyond doubt an extremely
intelligent person with a litany of academic credentials, but scant mention of
"real world" experience to back-up the claims being made in the book/article.
I'd even go so far to say he did put a lot of effort and thought behind the
writing. It's just a bit off the mark from my experiences... which should be
similar to about 40% of the population. :)

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docgnome
Hrm...

"Most hackers are willing to explain terms. Be ready for condescension; it's
not intended as an insult, but if you don't know the words, she probably has
to talk down to you at first to explain them."

If you are being condescending, you're Doing It Wrong. For the most part
people who don't understand computers aren't stupid, just ignorant.

~~~
dandelany
Yes, but the problem is it's hard to know exactly how ignorant the person
you're explaining it to is.

For example, I recently had to explain just-in-time compilation to a manager.
If I had launched into an explanation like "well, it's dynamically translated,
so the compiler is generating machine code at runtime," I would've gotten a
blank stare in return. So without knowing where the holes in his knowledge
were, I had to begin with "OK, so you know code is like a big list of
instructions, right?", which I'm sure came off as condescending.

~~~
docgnome
Well sure, but I think condescension has more to do with your attitude and
tone of voice than what you say.

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greenlblue
Weak and false dichotomy.

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bonedygr
Is it 1987? Also, just do your job and shut up about it.

~~~
jgg
Hmm, even Digg wasn't too keen on your asshole comments, what made you think
Hacker News would tolerate you? For someone who's so concerned with
productivity, you sure seem to have a lot of time to waste telling other
people what they should do.

