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Code Rush – The Beginnings of Netscape / Mozilla (2000) [video]

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Re: Code Rush – The Beginnings of Netscape / Mozilla (2000) [video]

#11

Post by ianremsen »

mwcampbell wrote: post #3

This documentary glorifies the insane practice of working unreasonably long hours to meet a self-imposed deadline. What bad things would have happened if the Mozilla release date had just been pushed back? Probably nothing. And maybe the quality of that initial release would have been better, and the people working on it wouldn't be burnt out afterward.

It doesn't glorify it, it clearly shows the effect such behavior has on one's personal/family life, and how it can all be in vain anyway. It's clearly a crunch-is-problematic message, if not an anti-crunch message.

Re: Code Rush – The Beginnings of Netscape / Mozilla (2000) [video]

#12

Post by asveikau »

mwcampbell wrote: post #3

This documentary glorifies the insane practice of working unreasonably long hours to meet a self-imposed deadline. What bad things would have happened if the Mozilla release date had just been pushed back? Probably nothing. And maybe the quality of that initial release would have been better, and the people working on it wouldn't be burnt out afterward.

The cynicism that jwz wrote with in this time period about what it's like for young people working in tech was influential on me. I do believe it also comes through in some of his segments in the film.

Re: Code Rush – The Beginnings of Netscape / Mozilla (2000) [video]

#13

Post by bootload »

vezzy-fnord wrote: post #6

"Yeah, my mom can use it. My mom can write optimizing compilers." (10:45) Devastating comeback.

that's Michael Toy. Along with jz, easily the most insightful person in this film ~ http://toyblog.typepad.com/about.html & https://twitter.com/mtoy

remember Andy Baio released made this film viewable in 2008 and wrote about ~ http://waxy.org/2008/06/code_rush/

Re: Code Rush – The Beginnings of Netscape / Mozilla (2000) [video]

#14

Post by anon3_ »

cryptoz wrote: post #8
frozenport wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FF users have almost halved over the last 2 years, despite what feels like solid technology - I wonder what the folks at Opera Software think? http://core0.staticworld.net/images/article/2015/07/firefox-...

> FF users have almost halved over the last 2 years, That's not what your linked chart shows. First, the chart is a % market share, not raw user counts. Second, ~18% down to ~13% isn't really "almost half" anyway.

Yeah but significant still. 27.7% of their pie disappeared.

Recent versions of Firefox have introduced third party plugins (like pocket).

After the Eich thing, they lost the "hacker" cred and their talent was pretty easy much poached. Further, the concept of merit - overlooking the political in lieu of skill / talent - is no longer a core value of the organization. [1]

Recruiters were all over linkedin and taking away the best talent left and right.

[1] http://esr.ibiblio.org/?p=6688

Re: Code Rush – The Beginnings of Netscape / Mozilla (2000) [video]

#15

Post by lern_too_spel »

anon3_ wrote: post #14
cryptoz wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> FF users have almost halved over the last 2 years, That's not what your linked chart shows. First, the chart is a % market share, not raw user counts. Second, ~18% down to ~13% isn't really "almost half" anyway.

Yeah but significant still. 27.7% of their pie disappeared. Recent versions of Firefox have introduced third party plugins (like pocket). After the Eich thing, they lost the "hacker" cred and their talent was pretty easy much poached. Further, the concept of merit - overlooking the political in lieu of skill / talent - is no longer a core value of the organization. [1] Recruiters were all over linkedin and taking awa…

That explains it. The reason you think Mozilla is shifting from technology into politics is that you've been reading ESR's lunatic ravings.

Re: Code Rush – The Beginnings of Netscape / Mozilla (2000) [video]

#17

Post by ianremsen »

hayksaakian wrote: post #16

This is really good. Thank you for sharing. As a younger person, this is a piece of history that was never taught.

I absolutely agree. When I watched this for the first time ~6 months ago it was crazy how much of this relatable oh-so-familiar stuff was taking place before I existed, the central date of March 31, 1998 being about 3 months before I was born. Programmers these days stand on the shoulders of giants, most of them still living and breathing. And it is a priceless gift that it is so much easier to learn this craft when you're starting out. It is a huge mistake to be the smartest person in a room, so I seek out people who floor me, people who are good at what I want to be good at. The Internet, built by our heroes, allow us young programmers to talk to our heroes as if they were people, and I suppose that helps us to discover that that's all they are.

Edit: If you enjoyed this, another personal-story-tinged entertaining-but-technical diamond I can recommend is a book about id Software, Masters of Doom.

Re: Code Rush – The Beginnings of Netscape / Mozilla (2000) [video]

#18

Post by chrissnell »

Wow. I remember watching this fifteen years ago and seeing that young kid (Stuart Parmenter) join Netscape right out of high school and thinking, "Don't do it!". I, too, joined the industry early and by 2000, I'd pissed away the first half of my twenties pulling all-nighters working at tech startups while the rest of my friends were partying at college or backpacking around Europe.

Recently, I'd read something about Mozilla and wonder whatever happened to that kid. Well, looks like he's all grown up now. I'm impressed to see that he spent so many years with Mozilla. I wonder if he has any regrets at starting so young.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/stuartparmenter

Re: Code Rush – The Beginnings of Netscape / Mozilla (2000) [video]

#19

Post by nchelluri »

That was really cool. Thanks for posting.

I think like a lot of you I probably can't watch a documentary without feeling "omg that guy was biased!" but I felt like they were pretty even-handed here.

  - long hours
  - stock options are a lottery, a stupid tax
    - "and I won the lottery"
  - the countdown timer at the open-source launch, the last minute typo of domain name, the person who observed it and directed the fix - that was awesome
  - the realistic portrayal of burnout and long hours
  - the sale to the giant evil internet corporation
  - the original reply to jwz's "AOL is buying us and here's why its not so bad" mozilla.org post
I use Mozilla (Firefox) as my "daily driver". At work I recently had to switch to Chrome because they offer a USB/serial device API through extensions. If Firefox did too I'd maybe work overtime to port that shit over because I love Mozilla. What an organization.

I feel bad because these guys did waste a bunch of their time building a fucking web browser. But maybe, just maybe, the web would suck a lot less without mozilla.org and their free codebase. And then, I did start to get the idea, "hmmm, maybe it'd be good to write HTTP again... this time with sessions baked in..." and wander off into "Can I implement that?" territory.

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