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How Software Companies Die (1995)

cs.cmu.edu

31–40 of 176 posts

Re: How Software Companies Die (1995)

#31
post #17

Was this as ridiculous a pastiche of clichés when it was written in 1995 as it is now? Or did programmers really only start to have social lives, dislike permanent crunch mode and plan before coding in the last 20 years? It sounds to me like Card read through the Jargon file, i.e. the self-image of a considerably earlier subculture of programmers, took it at face value, added some hyperbole and wrote it up as a kind…

I had the same reaction. Pizzas? Overweight dudes with their 'tight' code?

Re: How Software Companies Die (1995)

#32
post #27
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's just a fact that even people with repugnant beliefs about certain classes of people can still make complete sense in other domains.

Nobody disputes that. The question is, I believe, if we should enable them and elevate them. Giving Card a platform and indulging him validates his entire personal concept, not just the good parts. It's not only a matter of giving credit, it's about choosing where your content comes from. This person is still alive and relevant and subject to social acceptance. And even with dead people, we are reluctant to cite them…

You know if we practiced the same methodology a long time back, many prominent people may never have gained credence even if they came up with some amazing stuff simply because they were gay. Case in point: Alan Turing.

Re: How Software Companies Die (1995)

#33
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You should consider what you just wrote and and what it says about you.

One shouldn't feel obligated to be tolerant of intolerance expressed by people with power and privilege against those who have less power and privilege (like a wealthy, straight, white male attacking LGBTQ folks). That's a very common tactic of bigots to claim that being told they should stop oppressing people is oppressive toward them. Demanding an end to oppression is not oppressive toward those who currently benef…

The linked page doesn't mention gays once, it's about programming.

The post I replied to, seemed to me to suggest that everthing OSC says about anything can be discounted because he is judged to be anti-gay.

We're not going to listen to him on anything from now on unless perhaps he recants and does penance for his sins

Re: How Software Companies Die (1995)

#34
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You should consider what you just wrote and and what it says about you.

One shouldn't feel obligated to be tolerant of intolerance expressed by people with power and privilege against those who have less power and privilege (like a wealthy, straight, white male attacking LGBTQ folks). That's a very common tactic of bigots to claim that being told they should stop oppressing people is oppressive toward them. Demanding an end to oppression is not oppressive toward those who currently benef…

It's not being tolerant of intolerance to consider his views on an entirely disparate topic. If his views on LGBTQ people were being discussed, then yes they are repellant and I would say so, but they have nothing to do with the topic at hand.

Judging all of someone's views as wrong because some of their views are wrong is foolish.

As for the article itself, I found it to be overly stereotypical and lacking in actual insight.

Re: How Software Companies Die (1995)

#35
post #25
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We do, but that seems like a fairly off-topic comment in this case, since this is an article about software companies... What I also know is he's a pretty terrible writer - Ender's Game is fantastic, but the sequels are progressively worse and worse in a horrifying fashion that boggles the mind until you realise that OSC is someone who has a very, very basic understanding (or lack thereof) of human relationships and…

The reason why people don't pick up on Card's shit writing while reading Enders Game is because in Enders Game he substitutes "actually writing complex characters that develop as the story progresses" with "child characters who merely become less foolish as the story progresses" . It is a surprisingly common cop-out, making a character a child is a great way to disguise the fact that they only grow in one dimension.

I didn't even think Eder's Game was great or anything. Just an ok SF story. Now, reading your argument, it makes sense. Back in my mind I was probably thinking "What's so great about these little kids learning some shit and growing a couple of years?"

Re: How Software Companies Die (1995)

#36
post #28

In case you'd like to catch up on previous discussions of this, here are some of the previous submissions. The majority of the conversation and comments are on these: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1866486 (netjeff.com) : 45 comments https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=552821 (carolyn.org): 23 comments https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5372726 (zoion.com) : 14 comments There are also a few comments on some…

You've been doing these for a while, so: thank you for taking the time! It's just that I get the feeling your "job" should be done automatically by a sidebar or something ;) Seriously an automated element containing "previous discussions about this subject" would be a nice addition to HN.

Colin actually set up a novelty account/bot that did this, but stopped after a few people had a bit of whinge at him.

https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=DupDetector

Re: How Software Companies Die (1995)

#37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The difference here, is that it's not the 1800s, and OSC continues to not just hold, but evangelize his hateful positions. See: http://www.nauvoo.com/library/card-hypocrites.html for one of the reasons people find him repellent. Choice quote (after he had a chance to reflect on the response to his essay): "...it has become clearer and clearer to me, since writing this essay, that gay activism as a movement is no long…

How is that wrong again?! It is true that they are trying to gain legitimacy. It is no longer about rights but now it is about acceptance. The time has come now to the point where anyone who holds an anti-gay position is criticized and/or boycotted. Now we have not just reached giving gays equal treatment but making changes to accommodate a different lifestyle. The second point OSC makes is sourced in a discomfort fr…

Is this different from, say, the black movement? What if there were no longer segregated schools and bathrooms, but african-americans were prohibited to adopt children and black history were not allowed to be taught in schools?

edit: I'm not from the U.S. so I don't know everything as far as minority rights go over there. In my country there are laws agains racism, and they're trying to pass anti-homophobia laws too. I do have a problem with both of these, though, as anybody expressing a racist opinion can be simply jailed without bail. I find the U.S. stance on free speech much more... how do I put it... free?

Re: How Software Companies Die (1995)

#38
post #28

In case you'd like to catch up on previous discussions of this, here are some of the previous submissions. The majority of the conversation and comments are on these: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1866486 (netjeff.com) : 45 comments https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=552821 (carolyn.org): 23 comments https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5372726 (zoion.com) : 14 comments There are also a few comments on some…

You've been doing these for a while, so: thank you for taking the time! It's just that I get the feeling your "job" should be done automatically by a sidebar or something ;) Seriously an automated element containing "previous discussions about this subject" would be a nice addition to HN.

I get the feeling Colin may have already automated this and it's a bot posting these things.

Re: How Software Companies Die (1995)

#39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The difference here, is that it's not the 1800s, and OSC continues to not just hold, but evangelize his hateful positions. See: http://www.nauvoo.com/library/card-hypocrites.html for one of the reasons people find him repellent. Choice quote (after he had a chance to reflect on the response to his essay): "...it has become clearer and clearer to me, since writing this essay, that gay activism as a movement is no long…

How is that wrong again?! It is true that they are trying to gain legitimacy. It is no longer about rights but now it is about acceptance. The time has come now to the point where anyone who holds an anti-gay position is criticized and/or boycotted. Now we have not just reached giving gays equal treatment but making changes to accommodate a different lifestyle. The second point OSC makes is sourced in a discomfort fr…

The original essay was written in 1990, his follow up was October, 2013 - he stands by everything he wrote in it, with the only change in his position is that he's no longer seeking to criminalize sexual activity between gay people. That's the progress he's managed to make in 23 years.

Re: How Software Companies Die (1995)

#40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The difference here, is that it's not the 1800s, and OSC continues to not just hold, but evangelize his hateful positions. See: http://www.nauvoo.com/library/card-hypocrites.html for one of the reasons people find him repellent. Choice quote (after he had a chance to reflect on the response to his essay): "...it has become clearer and clearer to me, since writing this essay, that gay activism as a movement is no long…

How is that wrong again?! It is true that they are trying to gain legitimacy. It is no longer about rights but now it is about acceptance. The time has come now to the point where anyone who holds an anti-gay position is criticized and/or boycotted. Now we have not just reached giving gays equal treatment but making changes to accommodate a different lifestyle. The second point OSC makes is sourced in a discomfort fr…

It's wrong because it assumes it's bad to accept gay people.
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