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jbarnette

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Currently taking a break. Reach me at john@jbarnette.com.

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By the time we extracted Scientist, the code we were refactoring had pretty good test coverage. But even the best test suite is an imperfect model of production. The first section of the README briefly mentions this:

"Let's pretend you're changing the way you handle permissions in a large web app. Tests can help guide your refactoring, but you really want to compare the current and refactored behaviors under load."

There is no such thing as a shit task.

Added: That's a little too glib, sorry. Let me try again: From my perspective, if there's something that needs to be done at GitHub there are a few possibilities:

1. It needs to be done and it's getting done,

2. It needs to be done and it's not getting done, or

3. It's bullshit.

Cases of #3 become obvious pretty quickly. The best evidence: Searching for ways to make someone do it because nobody stepped up.

Cases of #2 can happen for a bunch of different reasons, but malice, apathy, laziness, or incompetence are the least likely ones. The most likely: Not enough hours in the day or not enough people with the knowledge necessary to be worried. No matter the reason for #2, someone at GitHub who is worried will generally try to get others to share their priorities, by persuasion, by hiring, or by prototyping.

Or occasionally by just jumping up and down and wailing.

We use PRP in any situation where someone explicitly takes responsibility for an outcome, no matter whether the outcome is some software or a clean office or an accurate tax return.

Identicons 13 years ago

If you're running a recent version of GitHub Enterprise, the avatar base URL can be configured today. It's possible to run an internal, secure server that responds to Gravatar's URL scheme.

I'm really sorry to hear that. I work at GitHub, so if you want to talk more about your experience please drop me a line. It's this username at that domain. Or hit up any other GitHubbers in this thread: We wouldn't be hanging around if we didn't want to hear from you.

Introducing Boxen 13 years ago

Drift after installation and incremental updates were more of a problem for us than initial installs.

Introducing Boxen 13 years ago

We've opened up #boxen on freenode for questions and discussion. We'll idle there whenever we can.

We don't have roadmaps or a prioritized backlog, so we weren't exactly "waiting" to implement this. Someone got fed up with the image workflow, figured out a solution, grabbed some other people to help, and shipped it.

I don't get the impression that many of the commenters here are spending a lot of time trying to hire good people right now. I am, and I'd be grateful to receive an email like this.

I wouldn't like it, but honest, personal feedback on an interview process is hard to find.

There are some good sample logos on the page, but the overall design reads more as a vanity site/portfolio than as a marketing page.

Make every element on the page justify its presence. "Hey, coffee-stained TODO list in the top right corner, why do you exist? How are you helping me sell logos?"

Consider finding someone to do a thorough edit of your marketing copy. Lots of good ideas in there, but it's uneven.