<RANT>

F*ck! Sh*t! Arrrggghh! ...need to write this down in order to let off some steam.


I work at a medium sized industry/university hybrid company as a software engineer. About 130 people are working there, and they nearly all seem to be NTs. Over the past twelve years, we implemented a rapid prototyping tool which can be thought of a visual programming interface. For this tool, we developed over a thousand so-called modules that can be connected to form an image processing network. With a lot of abstract layers, from C++ code to those networks, with the use of an own GUI language that can trigger different kinds of scripting languages, we are able to do anything, from simple prototype networks to complete complex applications.

Over the time, a lot of people came and go, and some, like me, stayed. The most of the module code is neatly placed into own subdirectories, named after the module they are 'sheltering'. At some point, newbies created their first modules which are named after the according newbie.

The amount of those newbie-named directories grew and grew, and now, I started an initiative to sort modules out and rename the personalized directories. Some of the code in the named directories is useful, the most is just dangling there and needs some care if a central interface changes. But maintenance is not the only point. If one (like me) sees all those named directories, well, it makes the blood boiling. It feels like someone has crapped into our order. In fact, due to those not-so-temporary named directories, there is no real order at all.

This initiative is welcomed by some of my colleagues, most do not care, but one resists against a new order. A neat order. A logical order. Something that calms the mind.

After long discussions in our internal forum, this guy came up with the argument, that having a directory (containing some code for very different modules) that is named after him makes him feel home. He resists because he likes his freedom, and does not want somebody (in fact, this somebody comprises more than just me) to superimpose any logical order. He likes it the grown way. It comforts him to see his name each and every day. I guess his name is something like an oasis to him.

I thought we all work together, with one common goal for one common tool with a rich module base.

To give his 'argument' some weight, like in discussions before, he always mentions the time of the day that he is writing his post. Today it was like 7pm. Argl, I was there at that time, too, having started my working day at 7am. As if the time spent working somewhere does make an argument good or bad.

I have very little memories of my short time in kindergarten, because after the second day I just sat screaming under a table. Well, the reason for that is somewhat clear, like overload and... even the kindergarten teacher could only make crap paper planes, and I could do better ones, and the other kids played strange games where one child should pretend to be a sick rabbit sitting in a den, and the other stood around it and had to sing a stupid song. I did not understand that whole thing, but it gave me the creeps.

If I had experienced kindergarten any longer, I would surely had more reason to say that this f*cking guy acts exactly like a person from kindergarten hell.

Gosh darn it! ...can't we just straighten out our repository and apply some neat rule to the code basis' directories, without someone who is whining, and bristeling against that BECAUSE HE FEELS HOME BECAUSE OF A COMPUTER DIRECTORY THAT IS NAMED AFTER HIM?

</RANT>

What happened to the idea of "egoless programming" modules that colleges taught as the way of the future in 1978?

I understand your pain and sympathise.  Though at my office, things get created or changed more mysteriously and nobody wants to take responsibility.

Thank you. The good news is that everybody cheered at me today, other colleagues came and gave high-five-eyebrows ^^ and that guy ran himself deeper into his silly crap by posting more incoherent posts.

The world is less evil as it seemed yesterday. And with less steam on my tank, I was able just to function normal in my parameter space today. 1978 is just not that far away...  :O)

Yay! Congratulations

We've got something a little bit like that - files and directories named after people who've long departed the organisation or sections that have long disappeared.

I work in a large public service department where sections get their names changed every couple of years on average. Because I'm at the 2nd lowest rung and an operative, it isn't really my job to decide what to delete or change, but it is annoying working in these directories and knowing they are so out of date.

Yigal, I can certainly sympathise about your experience in kindy as I hated pretend games due to thinking them very silly. The singing wasn't so bad to me but I think it has got worse over the years with sillier and soppier songs.

This is probably part of the Asperger's, but I didn't want to keep moving on to new activities. If there was a session with blocks, I would want to spend however long it took to make a construction.
If this was 30 minutes or 45 or longer, that was no worry to me.

Ditto with looking at books. We had to keep moving every 10 minutes or so and I got labelled as naughty because of resisting being moved on before I finished the last thing.

It's still a bit like that at work but we are told we should embrace change and that it will get more and more rapid (as if that's a good thing????).