[thelist] Professional Philosopy (long)

[Frank]

Using my words to express the same concepts...

>  I think what I love about IT is that there are any
>  number of "right ways" to do things, and anyone who
>  really 'groks' what development is all about can
>  appreciate them.

Finding the beauty of order in chaos... This is the same kind of 
feeling I get when in meditation.


>  My main "value" that I reach for is the one that I think
>  every "hacker" programmer reaches for: to do things
>  RIGHT. The elusive hacker concept of "elegance" is
>  important here. This doesn't just apply to coding, but
>  to everything an Internet-developer-webmaster-dude like
>  myself might do in the course of the day.

Pride and the love of beauty. I call this "The skill of being human."


>  there are [...] configurations and firewall rules and
>  recursive functions and database schemas and coding
>  standards and blocks of content that just seem to
>  "click" with some primal part of the hacker brain.

Yes! I get that completely, even though I don't have the words.


>  If the intelligence and ability are lacking, however, I
>  can be harsh. My respect is, to be honest, a hard thing
>  to earn: I do not suffer fools easily.

Oh no! Meritocacy!


>  Those peers who DO earn my respect share my love for
>  doing things the right way: they love their work, and
>  would take the time to do something well rather than a
>  rush job.


>  They would happily fight for a principle they believed
>  in, and not acquiesce to the merest whim of those
>  controlling the purse strings. I respect those who show
>  a bit of spine in their quest to get things done right.
>  I respect and look up to those who use their experience
>  as a tool, not a crutch or a weapon.

Self-honesty and respect, humility (which is making an *accurate 
assessment* of the value you bring)...


Wow! Great post, Paul, you've expressed many of the concepts I've 
been struggling to express for a long time very clearly.


-- 

I try to take one day at a time, but sometimes several days attack me at once.

Frank Marion                      Framar Studios
frank at framarstudios.com           http://www.framarstudios.com