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Posted by robert maas, see http://tinyurl.com/uh3t on 03/10/07 03:49
> From: Blinky the Shark <no.s...@box.invalid>
> I think it works quite well with "carpenter" and "hand tools".
I agree. In fact I already have "hand tools" for computer software development:
- Computer with VT100 emulator and local text editor and HyperCard
for organizing local information for convenient retrieval.
- Dialup shell account on FreeBSD Unix which has several different
programming languages (CMU Common Lisp, perl, PHP, C, C++, Java)
which I can use for writing software remotely over dialup.
- Web service on the ISP, whereby I can publish access to my
software on a trial basis via CGI, to allow evaluation of my
implementation of algorithms, without disclosing the source code
nor even the object code to criminals who wish to steal my
efforts and market as if their own work.
If there's something else you consider at the "hand tools" level
for individual work developing small software applications, please
present your case.
In fact a few of the applications I've developed on FreeBSD Unix
aren't small at all, such as my system for dealing with spam,
automatically intercepting incoming e-mail, parsing headers,
diagosing blacklisted ISPs whose e-mail is spam beyond reasoable
doubt, collecting WHOIS records and gleaning them for mention of
spam-complaint address, trying such gleaned addresses to make sure
they really work, installing such verified spam-complaint addresses
in database, running traceroute to discover upstream ISPs and
performing the same kind of WHOIS/glean/verify/DB process on them
likewise, deciding which spam-complaint address to use for this
spam that just now arrived, composing spam complaint, sending it,
keeping track of which spam messages have already been complained
about, keeping statistics of spam-generating ISPs to guide future
filtering.
> I don't think contractors supply carpenters with hammers and
> screwdrivers.
And likewise I do all this software development, for free, on my
own initiative, using my own tools (computer I purchased using my
own money, dialup shell account I pay for out of my own money), to
demonstrate my continued ability to produce novel software
application. And if somebody decided to hire me to write software
for them, I'd be glad to perform such development on my dialup
shell account at my own expense, and demonstrate it for the
customer via CGI, and then deliver source code to the customer
*after* I receive payment for my work. I don't require the customer
to provide me with additional tools such as a different shell
account or a new computer etc. before I start work for them.
I only require a contract for services.
> And I think that what he's lacking, in terms of hardware and
> connectivity, really are the basic tools (IE sophisticated?
> Firefix costly? <g>), not the power tools.
It would cost me at least $500 that I can't afford to purchase a
new computer capable of running those "basic tools", and I fail to
see how they would be of any value in increasing my productivity at
writing new software applications. You need to present your case,
not just flash unproven claims as if true.
> And as for "carpenter" instead of "contractor", he *has* said
> that he just wants to be the laborer.
Yes. I'm quite capable of helping with the system design
brainstorming, conceiving new algorithms and software organization
to satisfy the use cases, and then writing most/all of the software
to implement those algorithms per that organization. But I don't
claim to have the skills necessary to manage a large multi-person
software project, nor to handle the larger matters of a
profit-making company which are outside the scope of software
design and implementation. I'd be quite content to develop a
medium-sized black-box module with a clean interface to fit into a
larger project that is otherwise written by others. Per the
metaphor, I could handcraft and install all the windows and
bookcases and cupboards and pantries and counters, and I could also
handle the electrical and network wiring, but the contractor would
have to find others to build the walls and cement floors/walkways
and plumbing.
And if I volunteer on the side, for **free**, to set up a simple
Web site that allows the various workers to communicate with each
other and with the contractor to discuss progress and problems, to
avoid the hassle of stopping all work get everyone together into a
face-to-face verbal meeting, the don't fucking complain that my
simple text-only Web site doesn't have pretty pictures flashing all
over the screen. If you want a fancy Web site, you pay somebody
**money** for it. If you take my Web labor for free, you get more
than you pay for, but not as much as you greedily expect for free.
I'm fed up with people who refuse to pay me even one penny for my work,
but the complain my free labor isn't up to the highest paid-work standards.
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