Notices by Quixoticgeek (quixoticgeek@social.v.st), page 3

With the modern age of version control systems and the like, we see managers using things like number of commits to git. Or new features added. Etc...

Which on the face of it sounds great. Except you encourage people with your bonus structure to write more, to add to the code base. This doesn't make for the best quality of code base.

To quote the bankers after 2008. "The incentives were wrong".

4/n

With these metrics, you discourage the sort of user who spends 3 weeks fixing a bug that's been in the code base for 3 years. In the end they removed one line, to fix the bug. By the metrics: -1 line. 1 Commit. Clearly they aren't doing as well as the person who added 1000 new lines of code... across 15 commits.

I have genuinely spent 3 days on one bug, and fixed it by removing one character.

Deleting code is often one of the best things a programmer can do.

But it's disincentivised.

5/n

In the modern age of agile with sprints and stories etc... it's easy to setup a bonus structure of complete x stories, finish x sprints, do x commits. But to do so is Just Bad Practice™.

I'd like to say I'm able to give you an easy system for how to incentivise your programmers, how to make sure they have a bonus to work towards. But there's no easy solution here.

Personally I dislike bonus structures and incentives that are solely based on my performance. I work as part of a team.

6/n

The bonuses should be based on the whole team. Or ideally, the whole company. This allows you to concentrate on the quality of the product you produce, not simply hitting numbers for actions taken in the code base. We've seen disasters of projects where the programmers are burning themselves out in crunch before a release date that was always unrealistic. All that guarantees is a bug fix release a few weeks later. Late is better than buggy in most cases.

7/n

There's a lot of problems in the software industry. From poor working conditions, to poor software development practices. But most of them stem from poor management. Pushing the wrong incentives, pushing the wrong goals. This is how we end up with a simple mobile app that's 300 meg to install. Or a code base with 4000 dependencies noone fully understands.

So if you manage a group of programmers. Stop. Step back.

8/n

Step back and have a think about what you are doing to make sure that what you produce is the best quality it can be. Often this will mean freezing new features. Letting your staff fix those bugs that they've wanted to fix for years, but not been able to. Stop chasing metrics on commits and features added. You'll make a better quality product, and your customers will be happier. But more importantly so will your staff.

9/n

Burnout is a major problem in the IT industry, not just in software development. Insane on call rotas, poor management practices. They are incredibly widespread. Even in the poster child MAAAD companies. Especially at MAAAD.

You've all seen the joke. "What's the difference between a programmer and a lightbulb? The lightbulb stops working when it's burntout". But it cuts really really deep. I see so many people in this industry who are almost destroyed by burnout.

10/n

I have the big fear that in the case of Fujitsu, and the post office horizon program. The people who are going to be up against the wall. Maybe even see the inside of a prison cell. Won't be the management, or prosecutors. It's gonna be some poor programmer, who was at the start of her career. Who was just trying to keep their job by meeting the ridiculous goals set by their poor management. They won't be able to hide behind "just following orders" cos they will be too inexperienced to...

11/n

... have kept the evidence necessary to cover their arse. The same way that in the volkswagen emissions scandel. The only person who saw a prison cell in the whole VW fuckup, which increased pollution and harmed us all. Is one engineer. Noone in management. Noone who set the goals for the project. And I fear it will be the same for Fujitsu.

And all of it. From the top, to the bottom of the program comes down to one simple problem.

The incentives were wrong.
12/12.

When did humanity decide that the thing everyone wanted was AI? Especially and AI that isn't actually all that I, but is basically just sparkling autocarrot? MS talk of including it by default in the OS. etc... Why is it opt out, and never opt in?

I'm really hoping that the AI bubble bursts sooner rather than later.

@BethanyBlack Sorry, I hope my questions didn't make things worse. Your toots are really interesting, and given your accuracy, your predictions give me a little bit of hope in the world.

@BethanyBlack Eek. Get well soon!

@BethanyBlack it feels like the election is not trump Vs biden, but trump Vs did not vote...

@BethanyBlack i just wish the Dems could have a more inspiring candidate. Same with labour in the UK.

Do your predictions include when the UK general will be ? My hope is for as soon as possible.

@BethanyBlack I really hope you're right.

@BethanyBlack can't, as in should not be allowed to, cos then bad things will happen.

It can't cow circumstances mean it won't happen?

Well fuck.

Just did a Google image search as part of some research into something in the medieval era. Well over half of the results are from some kind of ai image generation site. Argh. Totally useless for research purposes.

Search engines need an "exclude AI content" option.

@BethanyBlack any idea why it shows up in dollars ? Is that just the default patreon thing ?

Just watched someone push onto a tram. As a parent was trying to get off the tram with a child in a pushchair. Her total look of death when I said "let people off first". FFS people.

@Hypx I did no such thing. Kindly retract your accusations.