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Travis CI: From Open to Minimum Vacation Policy

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Re: Travis CI: From Open to Minimum Vacation Policy

#331
post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think one of the most important points in the article is that forcing people to take vacation, and encouraging them to be completely unavailable, means that the company must learn how to survive the absence of a team member. It forces you to reduce the bus-factor, and this is critical. I ask my team members to take at least 20 days off per year (we also have an unlimited vacation policy) and I'll be using this argu…

How do you do this without creating a bloated organization? For example if you have 20 team members and expect for 2 to be gone for some kind of vacation at any point. When all are at work you have a 10% inefficiency. I wonder if it would be more effective to have have stretches of intense work (4-6 months) with long rest periods (1-3 months) between. This would minimize the operational switching frequency, though it…

No mechanical system is ever exploited at 100% capacity. The elevator in your building never has to carry more than half of what it's absolutely capable of. Any kind of building is built with materials that can withstand a lot more than the average load. Your computer never has to work at full capacity - I doubt the CPU's temperature ever reaches past 70C, far from the ~100C at which it can still perform reliable calculations, but also well clear of the ~105C at which the magic smoke escapes.

Smart people don't exploit systems operating at their absolute limits.

Re: Travis CI: From Open to Minimum Vacation Policy

#332
post #320
post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I phrased it poorly - we get off the week around the holidays as the company closes down. I also take probably another week off for random days here or there.

You serve ads. That's necessarily high-availability, especially around Christmas, when people are trying to grab eyeballs. If the company closes down, who's making sure everything is all right? Or maybe your stuff is that reliable? That's pretty impressive.

It is pretty reliable, but we also have alerts to let us know if there are problems and support staff work out times to be available.

Re: Travis CI: From Open to Minimum Vacation Policy

#333

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a bunch of leftist FUD to be honest. Read up on libertarianism. You've even managed to get the definition of "freedom" wrong. Lack of rules? Are we using arguments from decades ago? It's lack of rulers. There's never a lack of rules because we all understand natural law.

Natural law, like the survival of the fittest?

Like, if you initiate aggression, you can expect aggression in return. In the same way that you would defend yourself if someone attacked you. Those self-reflective thoughts we all have.

Re: Travis CI: From Open to Minimum Vacation Policy

#334
post #287

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a bunch of leftist FUD to be honest. Read up on libertarianism. You've even managed to get the definition of "freedom" wrong. Lack of rules? Are we using arguments from decades ago? It's lack of rulers. There's never a lack of rules because we all understand natural law.

>There's never a lack of rules because we all understand natural law. No we don't. More to the point, I can guarantee that not everyone agrees with your understanding of whatever 'natural law' is, or with your inalienable right to exercise that view in their presence. Not even Libertarians agree on that.

It's not something for which there is "my understanding" and "your understanding".

It's obvious stuff. If you punch someone in the face you can expect retaliation. If you trade with others you can expect peace for the duration of that contract. And so on.

I'm not saying there's a list of the natural laws that I imagine people know of. There's no list. There's only the obvious stuff. Obviously I'd have to retaliate if I thought my life were in danger, and obviously I'd do my best to keep alliances that benefit me. Others will do the same. It all ends up working itself out. No need for a Hammurabi.

Re: Travis CI: From Open to Minimum Vacation Policy

#335
post #287

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>There's never a lack of rules because we all understand natural law. No we don't. More to the point, I can guarantee that not everyone agrees with your understanding of whatever 'natural law' is, or with your inalienable right to exercise that view in their presence. Not even Libertarians agree on that.

It's not something for which there is "my understanding" and "your understanding". It's obvious stuff. If you punch someone in the face you can expect retaliation. If you trade with others you can expect peace for the duration of that contract. And so on. I'm not saying there's a list of the natural laws that I imagine people know of. There's no list. There's only the obvious stuff. Obviously I'd have to retaliate if…

Even the most barbarian, uncivilized tribes have had a shaman or chieftain and a set of principles to follow and taboos to avoid. Arguably (since I Am Not An Archaologist), Hammurabi's insight wasn't having laws, but writing them down, and abstracting the force of law away from the immediate will of the god-king.

Re: Travis CI: From Open to Minimum Vacation Policy

#336
post #321

Earlier quoted context omitted.

that 30 minute break after 6h of work is other wise known as Lunch :-)

Yeah that's obviously the reasoning behind it however the specific structure with the forced 15 minute break as well has lead (unintentionally I assume) to a structure of work 9h on Monday-Thursday and 6h on Friday for most employees. So basically everyone generates roughly 2h of OT every week then takes a Friday off once they hit 6 (or saves up). And I tend to eat a "power breakfast" and smaller snacks (apple etc.)…

er that's a tea break and these sort of breaks are supposedly for the blue collar workers (eg working on the line at audi ) if your salaried you are supposed to be adult enough to manage your own time.
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