Software Exorcism 314
Mark Burroughs writes "Leave it to a SubGenius preacher to take normally mundane subjects, like software maintenance, and expose the unholy conspiracy behind them. I think the following quote from the introduction sums up the tone of the book nicely: 'Rather than shield your eyes from the sordid realities of the software industry, I am going to dust off my old 8mm films and let you take a good look at the uncensored truth for yourself. You may want to keep a paper bag handy in case you get sick.'" You know you want to read on for the rest of Burrough's review.
| Software Exorcism | |
| author | Right Reverend Bill Blunden |
| pages | 351 |
| publisher | Apress |
| rating | two thumbs up |
| reviewer | Mark Burroughs |
| ISBN | 1590592344 |
| summary | Tactics for Maintaining Legacy Code |
Reverend Blunden's sermons focus on things that the college professors, in their tweedy jackets, will never talk about. As such, this book should be required reading by computer science majors, who often have a number of misconceptions concerning the industry that they are about to enter.
I doubt very highly that your instructors will tell you how to handle all the nasty little things that can occur when humans work in groups: backstabbing, stonewalling, sabotage, etc. The sad truth is that the people who do actually learn about these tactics (under the guise of "organizational behavior") are MBAs, the people who end up being managers. Folks, the deck has been stacked: The MBAs have been given whips, and the CS majors have all been given saddles. It's called animal husbandry; ... now go look up the word "cull."
Glancing at the back cover of the book, Reverend Blunden looks like the type of subversive individual that the ATF would like to have a chat with. As such, he is not one to let the reader leave without a few useful weapons (some of which may be questionable from a legal standpoint ... but hey, business is war). For example, the book tells you construct a paper trail so that even the shiftiest weasel cannot switch sides if it's suddenly convenient. Reverend Blunden even goes so far to refer the reader to a vault purveyor in New York so that evidence can be stored securely at home (hint: it's sure as hell not safe at the office). Don't kid yourself; a solid paper trail can save you during a witch-hunt.
The book also looks at how to deal with legacy code in situations where internal competition has encouraged people to hoard information, or to escape responsibility via promotion (i.e. VPs have been known to develop amnesia about the code they worked on). It explains the forces that cause these shenanigans to occur and then describes how to flush the guilty party out into the open, where their slimy tactics won't work. As before, generating a trail of evidence and possessing a degree of intellectual humility go a long way.
Then there is privacy, an issue that employers will definitely try to skirt. Management types tend to be keen on metrics to measure productivity. In addition, software engineers typically have access to code, or algorithms, that may be considered proprietary secrets. This has led many companies to monitor their engineers in some way or another (i.e. key loggers, remote desktops, sniffers, TEMPEST, etc.). Reverend Blunden provides a couple of easy, but extremely effective, counter tactics that the reader can use to foil this kind of Big Brother antics.
At the end of the day, Reverend Blunden tells it like it is. He hasn't been bought off and he doesn't have an agenda. His only goal is to warn new hires about the various landmines that exist, buried under the polite exterior of the corporate landscape. You may not like what he has to say, but no one ever said that software engineering was a pretty job. If they did, they were telling you a lie. Praise Bob.
You can purchase Software Exorcism from bn.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.
The man (Score:5, Insightful)
Ahhh, yes. Another treatise on how The Man is tapdancing on our heads.
Alternatively, we could read books on how to help create environments that are mutually advantageous, supportive positive experiences rather than focusing on heading off to another dreary color washed existence where we hate our bosses and hate our jobs.
Seriously, why? (Score:4, Insightful)
I thought the owner was insane, so I just ignored it. It would never surprise me now if I learned that she had spied on me. Of course, maybe that was brought on by the paranoia of reading something that, like this book, promotes paranoia.
Re:The man (Score:2, Insightful)
Now I realize that in order for "mutually advantageous" environments to work, it has to be mutually supported. The guy above me in the food chain doesn't want to play that way -- so now I'm his worst enemy.
Be excellent to eachother (Score:5, Insightful)
1. Tell the truth. 2. Stay out of other people's business. 3. Do the right thing.
Yes, there are some things that can't be avoided. If you are under attack by someone trying to get ahead or find a scapegoat, you have to defend yourself. But, even in these situations, there are choices.
Is this book really neccessary?? (Score:5, Insightful)
Is this really the "corporate landscape" for many software engineers? A job so bad where you feel compelled to check for keyloggers, keep paper trails locked in a home safe, etc.?
Granted, I've not been out of school that long, but every job I've had was in a friendly, cooperative environment w/ good people who wanted to write good software. We don't assign blame, we don't sabotage people's code -- we fix problems we find and give each other help when its needed. But then, I've always worked in scientific computing, so maybe I'm not in the "corporate landscape" as such.
So am I wearing rose-colored glasses and blinding myself to the cut-throat world of commercial software development, or is the author of this book simply over-reacting?
Also, if I were to find myself in a job where I felt a need to take the precautions suggested in this book, I'd be looking for a new job. I can't believe that any company could maintain such a draconian work environment and keep employees.
I now sit back and await all the posts telling me how naive I am. :-)
Re:The man (Score:4, Insightful)
I don't know about that. The only 'boogie man' I saw put up here is a MBA. And after dealing with two or three I happen to agree. If you are trying to "create environments that are mutually advantageous, supportive positive experiences "
You can't worry about getting a blade between the shoulder blades first. And office politics being what they are. And the general clueless ness of most geeks it is a really good idea to generate a good solid paper trail. That alone would make the book a good idea.
But we like our innocence... (Score:3, Insightful)
Maybe not, but having taken a couple of grad courses in Comp-Sci, I can say that the day we all switch from PCs to 5-tuple one-tape Turing Machines I will so be set.
Joking asside, Universities aren't about practical education (barring Medicine and Law...and to some extent Engineering). You don't go to university to learn how to be Bill Gates (god forbid). You go there to learn how things really ought to be. Then again, despite how ideal Universities try to be, research ends up having its fair share of backstabbing and intellectual thievery.
Re:The man (Score:3, Insightful)
Few, unfortunately, have the desire, let alone the fortitude, to simply take of themselves, let alone others.
KFG
Proper instructions (Score:4, Insightful)
That's the problem right there. Every student getting a degree in computers should take a mandatory class covering office politics, hiring legals, and how to deal with various peers, managers and devil^H^H^H^H^Hmarketing people.
Sure, we can read
At the end of the day ... (Score:4, Insightful)
If you can do your technical stuff well and be a nice person (even better a popular preson), a company will value you and you can rise above office political bullshit.
The books author sounds embittered by the fact that joining the software industry at the height of the tech boom didn't make them as rich as (Kill) Bill. Get over it and get along with people.
Defense (Score:3, Insightful)
Just because this information is laid out as it is, doesn't mean you should use it just because and cause such a malicious environment.
Remember, it takes everyone to create that happy environment.. but just one person to create that malicious environment. This is for that time when that one guy (or guys if you are really unlucky) is on you and you need to protect yourself.
Re:Is this book really neccessary?? (Score:3, Insightful)
Always cover your butt. Document everything. Save emails. This applies to any job, not just programming.
Oh, and HR is NOT there to help you. They work for the company, and their job is to protect the company-- never forget that.
Sounds entertaining... but (Score:5, Insightful)
Do you know the difference between a cost center and a profit center?
A cost center's something the business needs to do but doesn't make any money. Think accounting, or maintaining print servers -- the goal is to make its function as cheap as possible. One attractive way is to offshore it, provided things work out as cheaply as possible.
A profit center makes the business money. Like software development, or whatever it is that the business does: doing a good job will make the company money.
It's always better to work for the profit center.
Re:Is this book really neccessary?? (Score:2, Insightful)
Call it both, or a little of each. I've often felt that people will find conspiricies where they look for them. I've worked with people in the past that seemed to have issues with all sorts of co-workers - sometimes the same ones that I cam work just fine with. In a few of those cases, they were the ones making everyone else edgy, so it became a self-fullfilling prophecy.
On the other hand, I'm not saying that a level of paranoia isn't apropriate. For myself, though, I agree with you, I see no reason to start keeping a paper trail of what I do at home in a vault. If I'm that insecure at my job, then I need to move to something else... for my own sanity, if nothing else. Fortunatly, I've never felt that way.
Re:Is this book really neccessary?? (Score:3, Insightful)
I haven't read the book or worked in small organizations, but perhaps that's where all these tactics are useful. I searched desperately through this review for the tongue in cheek, but I couldn't find it. Maybe Burroughs is a true believer.
Re:Be excellent to eachother (Score:5, Insightful)
I, for example, worked for years at a large telecom company (i'll not name them, but will tell you they are as infamous as enron and are now in chpt 11 bankruptcy). During my stint there as a programmer, I tried very hard to work by a set of rules very similar to what kneecarrot described above. The reality of the situation, however, was that despite my good intentions, my senior manager was a scheming political beast who, when the situation was politically advantageous, would point me like a gun and pull the trigger, thus releasing my "truthful and honest intentions" on his target.
Because of that environment, I left the company as soon as I found a suitable replacement job. I'm not recommending the book under review, however
Re:Is this book really neccessary?? (Score:2, Insightful)
I would guess that your experiences depend somewhat on the type of person YOU are.
Re:Sounds entertaining... but (Score:3, Insightful)
If you find yourself an expert in something that is doomed to be a cost center (e.g., sysadmin), try to be a self-employed contractor/consultant. Companies will treat your role like one anyway in terms of penny pinching, but you have much more leverage (and tax breaks) if you are your own boss.
Re:Agreed (Score:3, Insightful)
I think you are confusing "college" with "undergraduate work". In the above paragraph, s/customer/advisor/ and s/software/research/ and you start to get the idea.
Re:Be excellent to eachother (Score:3, Insightful)
1. Tell the truth. 2. Stay out of other people's business. 3. Do the right thing.
In an environment with backstabbing and power struggles, the above recipie leads to burnout and delusion. It really is better to quit and find a better work environment.
Re:Be excellent to eachother (Score:3, Insightful)
1. Tell the truth. 2. Stay out of other people's business. 3. Do the right thing.
4. Keep your resume tight, because in many "business" settings there are two types: victims and victimizers. Guess which one you're setting up to be.
At some point uncompromizing integrity will be completely incompatible with your management/leadership/PHB, and at that point you'll be invidually surplus and right-sized out the door with a craptacular "recommendation" and as little severance as they can get away with.
In the long haul, the upright and just person will triumph. Only problem is that in management, the long haul counts for bupkis. Next quarter, next management performance review, next project deadline.
So, just be ready to keep migrating until you can either stumble onto a non-evil environment, or until you can accumulate enough mojo in one place to create a non-evil environment.
Re:The man (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Is this book really neccessary?? (Score:1, Insightful)
That's actually an extremely accurate representation of many, many workplaces.
Mike Judge didn't just make that shit up, it's real. Ever read Dilbert? That stuff's for real too.
No, it's not documentary, but even in a successful web startup I saw shit like that and had the need to keep a papertrail when dealing with certain colleagues.
Sad, but true.
Who's kidding who? (Score:3, Insightful)
Don't kid yourself; a solid paper trail can save you during a witch-hunt.
How cute. The naivete boggles the mind. Now, grow up and realize that there is nothing that can save you during a witch hunt. Even if you document your way out of the frontal attack, you will be noted as a troublemaker (for defending yourself) and be eliminated on the next pretext that they come up with.
When faces with a purge, the best course is to resign yourself to your fate, and take as many others down with you as you can manage.
Probably not naive... (Score:3, Insightful)
* Document your work and accomplishments and keep hard copies.
* Act so you need not fear your chickens coming home to roost (great stress-reliever, that).
* Be straightforward and honest, even when dealing with fools and slimeballs.
* If you feel the need to keep a few hidden surprises in reserve, make sure it's not inappropriate to keep'em hidden. Then spring'em with a smile.
If all that fails and political crap befalls you, you don't really wanna work there anyway.
Re:but, the "real" programmers" (Score:3, Insightful)
- The new and impressive system that you've been coding (with love and tenderness) for the last 3 months gets shelved just before regression test phase is over because some middle manager changed his mind.
A crappy manager can easily undo the work of a thousand first rate coders.
If you stick to coding and don't look around (like an oostrich with it's head on the sand), you will constantly be hit by surprises at work (a lot of them not nice).
Pop your head once in awhile and smell the air - you might just see that out of control freight train coming your way in time to dodge it.
Re:Who's kidding who? (Score:4, Insightful)
You are absolutely right. A witch hunt doesn't have too much to do with who is really the witch, but more to do with who can be pinned as one.
That said, it is a good habit to always keep track of things involving other people. This applies to all sorts of things aside from your job - Your finances, your other assets, your email correspondence, and even your relatives. When something does come up or somebody is raising hell or a pitchfork, at least you have records. I wouldn't always recommend arguing with the mob of pitchforks, but the mob doesn't last forever and sooner or later, it comes in handy to have good documentation.
"take as many others down with you as you can manage."
I think that is where this whole concept goes off the deep end. Play the game by some good rules that a few others can probably respect and break the rules every now and then so they don't get you in bigger trouble.
But remember that the world is not all a pit of mean dogs and some people may actually support you and help you. Still, those special individuals will only do so if they see you as more human than mean dog.