undefined | Better HN

0 pointsCPlatypus14y ago0 comments

Don't worry, the "github or git out" attitude is only common among people you wouldn't want to work with anyway. They're the ones who will change languages or frameworks according to what's fashionable, rat-hole the team on fun but irrelevant projects, and not talk to you unless you dress like a hobo and swear like a sailor. They're over-represented here on HN, but real engineers know that most good code isn't on github and never will be.

0 comments

6 comments · 2 top-level

kd122014y ago· 2 in thread

My experience with gung-ho githubbers is the same. It's great to try out new technologies, but gitguys take it to an extreme. They'll shoehorn any new technology into their stack without a second thought about product stability.

Gitguy: "I used EC2, Blazboo and Chingbang to create an HA job queue that will never fail! It uses counting Bloom filters and I wrote it in Brainfuck."

Me: "What do you use it for?"

Gitguy: "Sending password reset emails."

These Rube Goldberg wannabes are generally more trouble than they're worth. You end up with a system that's a technological pastiche. The drawback is apparent when you try to hire new teammates. It turns out you can't find someone who knows the 12 esoteric packages your business is running on.

latch14y ago

The state of programming is so awful, that I'm literally just looking to know: do you write fat controller actions..or whatever equivalent exists for the specific technology you used.

That, to me, is 100x more important than "how many zeros are in 100 factorial"

jacques_chester14y ago

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks this. I really like the energetic fluorescence of some open source communities, but the punning names, over-extended metaphors and religious devotion to novelty uber alles are really starting to take their toll.

lutorm14y ago· 2 in thread

Funny, I thought github was a code repository, not a personality type...

real engineers know that most good code isn't on github and never will be

Irrelevant. Fact is, having code out there makes it easier for prospective employers to get a feel for you, there's no way around that. No one said it had to be the best code or all the code.

Now, if you are working your ass off on proprietary code and write absolutely no code outside of your work, then you won't have it. That's understandable, but doesn't change the fact that it makes it harder for someone to figure out what you can do.

CPlatypusOP14y ago

Thanks for the steawman. I was explicitly referring to a mentality, not to github itself. I use github. I don't share that mentality. It's not github's fault that some users treat them as an oracle, but it does happen. I have on multiple occasions heard people say that they won't hire people unless they can check out their work on github - github specifically, and no qualification or allowance for exceptions. Every time, the speaker was exactly the kind of hipster idiot that I just described. I suppose that could just be a coincidence, or it could be that people who follow one stupid trend often follow others as well. In any case, that one stupid trend is sufficisnt to make working with them unappealing, and since there are plenty of sensible employers out there it's unnecessary as well.

lutorm14y ago

Just to let you know, I agree with you in substance. If it makes a difference to someone whether you have your code on github or sourceforge, then they're obviously pushing a dogmatic view. But like you say, that's not github's fault, so conflating them and a subset of their users in an argument doesn't seem productive.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse