Re: Ada, Software Engineering and "weirdoes" (was License to Steal)

[Jeffrey Carter <jeffrey.carter@boeing.com>]

Peter Richtmyer wrote:
> 
> "Jeffrey Carter" <jeffrey.carter@boeing.com> wrote in message
> news:3AE5A34F.B89C8D5F@boeing.com...
> > This has something to
> > do with how people's brains are wired; only weirdoes can be software
> > engineers.
> 
> I question the term "weirdoes". We have qualities (perhaps) and modes of
> operation when programming that are fairly rare. I am not sure that "rare"
> should be confused with "weird". I am not a linguist, but I just looked up
>  "weird" in my Webster's, and I do not think it fits. Ironically, I had
> Webster's
> out because earlier I had looked up "peer", because we are going through
> "peer reviews", and I felt that most of those "peers" of mine were not, by
> definition, my  peers. Except that we ("software engineers") are not
> "ranked"
> based upon the "software engineering" that we do. We are ranked based
> upon so many other factors (including coding).

A "weirdo" in common American usage is simply someone who is
significantly different from the norm; it was not uncommon when I was in
school to hear it applied to stereotypical nerds. I did not use it
seriously, but merely to emphasize that those capable of becoming
software engineers differ from a significant majority of the population.

This implies that cost-effective development of high-quality software
cannot be accomplished through the "replaceable moron" approach most
organizations are so enamored of.