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August 21, 2005
"... if anyone orders Merlot, I'm leaving!"
Many people would recognize that quote from the film Sideways and whilst I omitted the more colourful and memorable statement that follows immediately, I think this one captures the moment quite nicely. And in the same vein, I'd like to pose this hypothetical:
Assume you're applying for a development position at a new company: the interviews have gone well, good vibes on both sides, no red flags as yet, conditions good, people nice, pay acceptable, full steam ahead... and then you strike the iceberg when your potential employer (apropos of nothing) mentions that they are using software product X for whatever product X is intended...
Your mouth drops open, your pupils dilate and your struggle to hold back the rising bile caused by hitherto carefully buried memories of past encounters with the self same product X. Mustering as much decorum as possible given the gravity of the situation, you rise from your seat, carefully button your suite jacket (remember: "sometimes, always, never"), spit in the general direction of your almost-but-not-quite-employers and leave the room at a rapid trot.
Could you see this happening to you - with or without the flem? Have you encountered any products that inspire a revulsion that would lead to such a deal-breaking situation? I know of many people who have voiced such sentiment about a certain popular email/groupware client and whilst I share their pain up to a point, it wouldn't have that sort of effect should I need to use it again. However, I think I may have come across a legitimate contender in a version control system that is so unsuited to, well, version control that it's ongoing existence beggars belief.
This realization was a shock to me as I place product choice a distant last on the list of determinents of a successful development project - somewhere behind people, people, people, management and customer support, process and planetary alignment. So I was somewhat surprised to find myself reacting so strongly to this tool and it's constant ability to derail my struggle towards some semblance of decent productivity.
But enough of my gripes - I'm keen to hear whether other people have a list (whatever size) of prohibited products that would stop them knowingly working in any environment inhabited by said products.
As a further constraint to my hypothetical job position, assume there is little scope to change/replace product X, irrespective of your ability to mount a credible argument for it's termination based on technical merit alone. As I've voiced recently, many of these choices are made for reasons entirely outside the technical realm and the worker bees have no choice but to "like it, or lump it".
Posted by Andy Marks at August 21, 2005 11:44 AM
Comments
if (product = Visual Source Safe || Visual Basic )
myReaction = as Above
Posted by: Ravi Mohan at August 21, 2005 05:09 PM
I think what it comes down to is that certain tool choices reflect a lack of understanding. For example: any one who still uses Visual Source Safe obviously doesn't understand what a version control system is for (even though the more recent versions _apparently_ have overcome the repository corruption problem). Anyone who seriously used Rational Rose for code generation also indicated a lack of understanding.
People over tools, yes, but if a tool is unsuited to purpose and you're still forced to use it, then the "people" side of the equation is being neglected.
Posted by: Robert Watkins at August 21, 2005 05:14 PM
As somebody who's just gone from a company that uses Lotus Notes, that's definitely high on the list of "things I'd never use again". ;-)
However, I see people using tools inappropriately as a sign of low technical maturity, and fear driven decision making rather than any deep-seated evilness on behalf of the organisation.
I'm now working for ANZ, where WSAD is the "tool de jour". Why ? Well, nobody knew any better, and nobody was in the position to push for better decisions. I'm currently changing the perception that you need to spend $6k/seat to get programmer "productivity" and pushing that people use Eclipse first (as a step) as a means of having open tool choice on a per project basis (and hopefully that will allow IDEA to be used if people want it).
The issue is more of maturity and lack of a better option, driven by FUD mostly. "Nobody got fired for buying IBM/Microsoft"
Posted by: Jon Eaves at August 22, 2005 09:45 AM
Yes. If I'm forced to use a tool I don't like, (provided I've had experience with it in the past), I really wouldn't take the role.
(i) The VC6 IDE I wouldn't go back to. It frustrates me. If I was forced to use it everyday as part of my job, I wouldn't enjoy my job. If I don't enjoy the job... there's no point being there.
(ii) Lotus Notes... would prefer not to have to use. I hate it. But I wouldn't not take a job because of it - I would just use the phone more ;-)
(iii) VSS. I'd probably take the job. An opportunity to show why it's not suitable, and how other tools could be used better. (that are free). In fact, I've just finished convincing people where I currently am, and the change has been extremely rewarding.
Posted by: Peter Hancock at August 22, 2005 01:58 PM
Broadvision definately!
Posted by: Stuart at August 22, 2005 08:36 PM
I have to say that, given the choice, I'd be very reluctant to work with ClearCase again. A team of carrier pigeons delivering printed listings to a department of librarians to perform visual diffs and manual cataloguing would be preferable to that particular VCS.
Posted by: Mike Melia at August 23, 2005 12:54 AM
Ditto the VSS comments, but it only helps if you know about it first hand. The worst bomb that's been dropped on me was being told that a prospective employer's .Net application was database agnostic just because they had used the ODBC providers. Shudder. I didn't keep a straight face and that was that.
Posted by: Jeremy at August 23, 2005 05:29 AM
I guess it depends on how core the the application is to what you do. Pretty much all "enterprise" software sucks; bug tracking, expense reporting, time reporting, "groupware", etc...how much of a barrier to being succcessfful iis it? All those above tools I don't depend on so much, so I can deal (email and bug tracking being grey areas). Version control though, that's a problem.
It also depends on what the attitude on the immediate team about it is. If everyone thinks VSS is great, then it's a warning sign for the team. If they all hate it, then maybe it's something that can be dealt with.
Posted by: Rob Meyer at August 28, 2005 01:18 AM
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