I'm a hacker

January 13, 2001

If you're a manager or otherwise are responsible for programmers, read this. It'll really help you get along with your hackers.

Care and Feeding of your Hacker. Thanks to Andrew Duncan for the link!

I'm a hacker.

"Repetitive, simple jobs are a waste of a good hacker, and will make your hacker bored and frustrated. No one works well bored and frustrated."

I'm a hacker.

"Treat your hacker as an equal, and she will probably treat you as an equal -- quite a compliment!"

I'm a hacker.

"Hackers, writers, and painters all need some amount of time to spend "percolating" -- doing something else to let their subconscious work on a problem."

I'm a hacker.

"Ask the other staff in the department what the hacker does, and what they think of it. The chances are that your hacker is spending a few hours a week answering arcane questions that would otherwise require an expensive external consultant."

I'm a hacker.

"Unlike most workers, hackers will try very hard to refuse to give an estimate until they know for sure that they understand the problem. This may include solving it."

I'm a hacker.