Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Thank u, next

words.steveklabnik.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 182 posts

Re: Thank u, next

#21

Post by codezero »

This is a bummer on many levels, but also personally, a bit of a relief.

For a while I was considering going all-in to try to get a role at Mozilla. I really believe in their mission, and I drink the kool-aid when it comes to the browser market getting gobbled up.

What held me back at the time were the company reviews. The culture sounds toxic, and the management sounds incompetent, and there's no force of change that has done anything to change that in the past ~5 years.

So this is a relief, because random online statements are often a limited glimpse into a company, and I've been worried that I made a bad choice by not going for a role there, but seeing something like this come from steve is very damning for Mozilla.

Best of luck Steve, I’m sure you’ll end up somewhere great.

Re: Thank u, next

#22

Post by dao- »

steveklabnik wrote: post #12
Xophmeister wrote: post #10

I'd be interested to know more about what disenchanted him -- if he's willing/able to share, of course -- from Mozilla, besides what he briefly mentioned regarding pay and opportunity. I can understand the need to move on from a position that is no longer of interest, but are there "political" reasons? He hints at incidents, for example.

I don't think it's particularly professional to get into more detail than I did in my post, as much as I'd like to. As the saying goes, there are three sides to every story. I'd rather focus on the future.

Why hint at it at all then? Without details it won't satisfy the curious nor help fix whatever problems there might be. As someone who still works for Mozilla out of conviction, this feels like an unnecessary low blow.

Re: Thank u, next

#23

Post by peterstjohn »

mindcrime wrote: post #14
akhilcacharya wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Raleigh’s nice. I grew up and went to school in Raleigh. It’s not nice enough to move cross country.

I dunno. Last I checked Raleigh was one of the fastest growing cities in the country. And I doubt all of those people are coming from the rest of the East Coast. I'm pretty sure at least a handful of people are, indeed, moving cross country to relocate here.

We both know Durham is better though ;P

Re: Thank u, next

#25

Post by codezero »

notbestcomment wrote: post #16

If Mozilla paid well it would be known and people would actually criticize them for doing so (being a non-profit).

The Mozilla Corporation isn't a not-for-profit, that's the Mozilla Foundation, though I think your point is that they are intertwined and people would make a fuss.

Re: Thank u, next

#26

Post by yanslookup »

This surprises me on so many different levels. To me, Rust is nearly the same thing as steveklabnik. Considering his level of engagement and enthusiasm I figured he was one of those people making easy SV money.

Between this and Jess Frazelle (another household name) never getting a promotion shows how wrong this industry is.

Re: Thank u, next

#27

Post by thanatropism »

codezero wrote: post #21

This is a bummer on many levels, but also personally, a bit of a relief. For a while I was considering going all-in to try to get a role at Mozilla. I really believe in their mission, and I drink the kool-aid when it comes to the browser market getting gobbled up. What held me back at the time were the company reviews. The culture sounds toxic, and the management sounds incompetent, and there's no force of change tha…

> culture sounds toxic

Is this an indirect reference to Brendan Eich's sacking or is it even worse?

Re: Thank u, next

#28

Post by deskamess »

Cthulhu_ wrote: post #9
mylons wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

i think the point he's making in that post is he does have the time, and more importantly the passion and will to do so. the compensation he was receiving for having to work at a large org wasn't fair, and that's why he's changing directions.

Are there companies (outside of Mozilla) that would hire (or at least pay) someone like that to keep working on Rust and its documentation? These people are too important to not pay enough. I know it's perceived to be the price you pay if you work for a foundation like Mozilla (or open source software), but it's not fair. I've seen a guy who worked full time on open source have a Patreon, which had a few big sponsors…

One company that values documentation is Microsoft. There are technologies like Web Assembly/Blazor that could use an evangelist. Web Assembly within the framework of .NET Core+VS Code could be worth pushing.

Re: Thank u, next

#29

Post by wyldfire »

> Furthermore, I don’t have any personal opportunity at Mozilla; I recently discovered I’m the lowest-paid person on my team, and Mozilla doesn’t pay particularly well in the first place. In order to have any kind of career growth

A tech company couldn't find a better evangelist IMO. Steve, you should be commanding a top tier salary.

Re: Thank u, next

#30

Post by mhd »

steveklabnik wrote: post #11
nindalf wrote: post #6

I'm surprised and disappointed to learn that Mozilla didn't value Steve's work enough. The documentation, especially the book [1] which he authored, is the gold standard that every software project should aspire to. As someone who learned the language recently, it's possible that I might have abandoned it if the documentation and learning materials hadn't been so good. I also thought his work in evangelizing Rust on…

Thanks! To be clear, the doc work was my job, but the evangelizing wasn't. I plan on continuing both, as much as time allows.

I would miss the instant replies on most Rust topics from you. That and acemarke's similar quick response to any mention of Redux make the world seem like a more predictable place in these troubled times...
Post reply on HN