23 replies

1. Mia [data-css=poetic] 2 min later

   @zachleat Was there a time before developer celebrities?

   1. Zach Leatherman 5 min later

      @mia only in the time before developers 😅

      1. Mia [data-css=poetic] 9 min later

         @zachleat oh, well the rise of developers has clearly made software worse, so

         1. Zach Leatherman 9 min later

            @mia hahaha

2. Zach Leatherman 7 min later

   this poll toot will probably self destruct at some point

   *runs away*

3. webbureaucrat 10 min later

   @zachleat

   I'm struggling to articulate this point so bear with me... I think it's good in the sense that it leads people to think about the underlying philosophy of a product, rather than jumping onto a tool bandwagon and then getting mad it's not all things to all people. Like if I know something about Zach Leatherman and how he thinks about software, I know better whether Eleventy would be a good fit for me and my use case.

   1. webbureaucrat 13 min later

      @zachleat

      On the other hand, I've seen a *lot* of really good products collapse because being good at managing celebrity status is a very different skill than managing software, and a lot of people just can't do it. (I certainly could never!)

      1. Zach Leatherman 15 min later

         @webbureaucrat it’s a very fair point!

4. McNeely 16 min later

   @zachleat realistically I think the real answer is that its a push. We don't typically ask this about celebrity chefs or other professions. I think to the extent that developer celebrities have had a negative impact its less about the individual and more about them giving voice to problematic trends that exist within the industry.

   1. Zach Leatherman 17 min later

      @McNeely well said.

   2. Jake Archibald 3 days later

      @McNeely @zachleat yeah, I think of Paul Irish as one of the first "developer celebrities", but I'll hear nothing against him (also, getting the chance to work with him, it was amazing to see how much 'real work' he did beyond the public profile stuff). So I think we're side-eyeing something more specific here.

      1. Zach Leatherman 3 days later

         @jaffathecake @McNeely 100% I wouldn’t tolerate anyone speaking ill of Paul either — one of the best to ever do it

         1. TinyExplosions 🐾 3 days later

            @zachleat @jaffathecake @McNeely seconded (or thirded). Folk like Paul (and Paul Lewis, and Jake) were great examples of do-ers who could also teach and were only good for our community (I’d include Molly and a few other in there too)

5. Louis Ingenthron 22 min later

   @zachleat On the one hand, we have Hideo Kojima, but on the other hand, we have *all the rest*. What to do, what to do...

6. julian 25 min later

   @zachleat@fediverse.zachleat.com was there a rise in developer celebrities? Perhaps I'm just not aware.

   I think software devs have been desperately trying to find somebody to emulate ever since the early days. It's all part of our massively shared imposter syndrome that all devs have to some degree :sweat_smile:

   It just gets icky when you call it thought leadership.

7. dan leatherman 37 min later

   @zachleat developers should be celebrated

   *runs away*

8. Naiyer 3 hr later

   @zachleat where are other options: betterworse and it depends?

   Personally, you can either be developer or celebrity but not both at once.

   1. Zach Leatherman 4 hr later

      @naiyer betterworse is both checkboxes 😅

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11. Irfan 3 days later

    @zachleat You’re the exception to the rule.

    1. Zach Leatherman 3 days later

       @irfan I could rattle off so many good folks doing great work too! (and thank you, I’m trying my best!)