Subj : Trust? (was: How much should I charge for fixed-price software...) To : comp.programming,comp.lang.java.programmer,comp.lang.lisp From : rem642b Date : Thu Aug 25 2005 12:15 am > From: "jonathon" > If this guy doesn't have the resources and/or ingenuity to put > together or access a decent machine, who would trust him to write > their software?? Do you have any idea how stupid and arrogant that sounds? Basically you're saying that only people who already have lots of money to buy the latest equipment out of their own magic funds, should ever be allowed to work. Nobody, in your view, should ever be allowed to work to earn the money to buy the stuff you think we should already have. I don't currently ave financial resources because all the employers in recent years have been more concerned with the latest buzz words than with solid ability to design algorithms to solve problems, and implement those algorithms in working software. It's not possible to put together a machine without money to buy the components, and nowadays it's stupid to buy raw components and assemble your own machine and then write your own operating system when already-assembled machines with an already-installed operating system cost less. But regardless of component or pre-built system, without any money it's impossible to obtain either. Over the years, I've worked on a wide variety of different computers: Some in their time were nearly state-of-art (such as a timesharing computer with five simultaneous local users on keyboard&display devices plus two on local TTYs and some using TTYs via dialups in 1969, augmented with a new display system supporting about 30 additional timesharing terminals starting about 1972. Others were whatever I could just barely afford on my limited income, such as the homebrew MOS 6502 machine with not one but *two* serial ports which I bought for $600 because I couldn't afford an Apple I which cost $2000 at the time and cost an extra $200 for each serial port, and a used Macintosh Performa I bought used for $200 (plus $100 monitor) in 1998 because that's all I could afford at the time. On all those many computers, I've done really good programming, innovative, functionning, useful. Only a fool would decide that because I don't have money for the most expensive system available today that I can't be trusted to write software. My ingenuity is in math and software, not in hustling for money. I expect to be hired to write software, not to hustle money. .