I think this is a false dichotomy. You can be competitive without being arrogant or rude. Competitiveness isn't the problem, it can even be fun when used right.
Ask HN: How to stop competitiveness within the Dev world?
11–13 of 13 posts
Re: Ask HN: How to stop competitiveness within the Dev world?
#12One thing I see is a kind of bigotry. For instance, there are some people who only use Microsoft tools since they have an MSDN subscription. There are other people who run Linux and use only open source tools. Frequently people in those community think the other one "sucks", even though they both get their jobs done.
If I can I use Microsoft tools because that's what I'm experienced and more productive in. I know that say Java, Ruby, Python etc don't suck but I won't code as fast in them.
Re: Ask HN: How to stop competitiveness within the Dev world?
#13I find most developers quite nice. This is in UK and Australia, but from many ethnic backgrounds. Assholes are occasional but definitely the exception in my experience. They tend to be people that have many years service and have built up a moat to protect them and so they can get away with it. Although maybe not if the "victim" use anti-bullying laws to their advantage but it takes some balls.