[HN Gopher] A conference about software you can love
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       A conference about software you can love
        
       Author : todsacerdoti
       Score  : 35 points
       Date   : 2022-05-27 18:58 UTC (4 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (kristoff.it)
 (TXT) w3m dump (kristoff.it)
        
       | [deleted]
        
       | armadsen wrote:
       | I've been lucky enough to be able to spend my entire software
       | engineering career so far working on software that end users use
       | and pay directly for. I often say that I really only want to work
       | on software that makes money because it does an excellent job of
       | solving a problem for its users, and that's the only reason they
       | use it.
       | 
       | When you have other financial relationships and monetization
       | strategies in the mix -- advertising, monetization of user data,
       | virtual currencies and loot boxes, etc. -- the incentive
       | structure is such that you have to focus on goals other than
       | "make software that our users love".
       | 
       | Of course, it's probably not a coincidence that I _haven 't_
       | spent my software engineering career working for high growth
       | startups or big companies. But that's a plus too. I really enjoy
       | working at a company with 10-20 people making a product that
       | people love, a completely straightforward business model (users
       | buy our software), no VC money, and no ambitions to grow like
       | crazy or get huge.
        
         | kristoff_it wrote:
         | My hope with this conference is to talk about this precise kind
         | of stuff. Thank you for sharing.
        
       | david2ndaccount wrote:
       | I don't understand the beef the author has with Stallman. Should
       | GNU C _NOT_ have a manual? It should just be undocumented
       | folklore? Of all the things to complain about, someone actually
       | writing done how something works should be commended.
        
         | klyrs wrote:
         | What I took away from that passage was the juxtaposition of
         | "don't use anything but free software; here's a manual for a C
         | compiler" was seen as somewhat lacking with regards to
         | "lovability."
         | 
         | That said, I love a good language reference. And I've gotta
         | say, documentation is _hard_ and the hardest thing I 've found
         | in learning zig is that the language is moving fast -- it's
         | _really_ hard to make good documentation for a moving target.
         | So swiping at RMS for putting out an improved manual rings a
         | little hollow to me.
        
           | kristoff_it wrote:
           | I think the FSF has much bigger problems to focus on than a C
           | manual, in 2022.
        
             | klyrs wrote:
             | I don't know about that. FSF seems to be entirely calcified
             | and I haven't been a fan of much of their newer work.
             | Trying to move that organization is a fool's errand. You're
             | doing the right thing by starting anew and defining your
             | own direction to grow in.
        
         | mattnite wrote:
         | reference or no, GNU C is a child who can only be loved by
         | their mother
        
       | rado wrote:
       | Microsoft has left the chat
        
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       (page generated 2022-05-27 23:01 UTC)