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Looper's Delight
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[Jim Goodin] > That said I agree the Bill Gates was more > right time right place entreprenuer and less an artful programmer. On > the other side though maybe Linus T was not in some opinions a genuis > programmer I've always felt that those that did things for the good of > the Net and world community were to be viewed with high regard. Sure, but what skills does it take to "do good"? Do you have to practice 10,000 hours helping the world community? I don't want to sound like I'm dissing Linus and I haven't read the book we're sort of discussing so maybe I'm misinterpreting this. But if we're trying to compare "greatness" in music and computer programming and tossing out names like Mozart, that sets the bar pretty fricking high. I don't think comparing musicians and programmers is that meaningful anyway. Programmers like to think they're "artists" and there is some truth to that. But the disciplines involved, and the economic climate surrounding them are quite different. Laymen often think that writing a program is similar to composing a symphony. What's the most recognized and generally well respected symphony? Something like Beethoven's 9th. What's the most recognized and generally well respected program? Microsoft Word. Are we to assume that the programmers involved in the development of Word are as great as Beethoven? Does Word contain unique structural genius that no one else in the world could have created? Does Linux? The analogy isn't quite accurate, but modern programmers are more like producers than musicians. There is a lot more involved in creating a successful program and helping the world than just writing code. You must be at least as great at team management, marketing and sales. And it certainly helps to be lucky enough to be in the right place when trends like personal computers, the internet, or open source take off. That is certainly worthy of admiration, but it's a different kind of greatness, and it is almost never the work of a single person. Jeff