Cancer Survival for Software Developers 263
Paul Pareti writes "Doug Reilly has published an affecting, personal piece about Surviving Cancer if you're a Programmer. You don't have to be a sufferer to benefit from reading it, especially his conclusions, including the perspective-lengthening advice: 'Make sure you are not indispensable!'"
Re:Got that one covered .... (Score:4, Interesting)
Don't take this the wrong way, but... (Score:2, Interesting)
I'm just stating my opinion here, but it's talking about living life from the wrong end of the spectrum. For one things, one of the first things that came to my mind when I read it was, "Get a freakin life!!" If a person is so concerned about what will happen to them after they die, then they should really re-evaluate the way they live. I live my life in such a way that if I had to be replaced because of death, people wouldn't think, "Oh I wish he had left us the password to his computer so we could get his source code." More importantly though, I don't sit around thinking of ways that I can make my passing invisible to most people around me. But then again, I don't have cancer...
I have nothing against the author of the article, I just disagree completely with the validity of the argument's origin. Who cares whether you're going to die or not, you should do those things regardless.
Here's the story of my coworker (Score:5, Interesting)
After he died, our team was devistated. I'm not sure we accomplished more than simple maintenance activities for months afterwards. Even though he'd tried to put things in order, it was still tremendously difficult to fill where he'd been. It probably took a good year before things felt on track again.
It's strange even now, running across his name in code or tucked away in a database somewhere. I support his few remaining applications, which some day will be retired as well. The things we leave behind . . .
With all due respect (Score:4, Interesting)
To put it bluntly - who gives a flying fig about employers convenience, when life and health of individual are at stake. If only a few years are left for one to live, it is far better to spend them with loved ones or doing something that is important to the person (or makes a difference to the world, or both) then wasting your time writing useless code for someone's profit. Unless of course this happens to be "what is important to that person" - and then I would strongly suggest reviewing priorities, while there is still time.
Pretending that there is such a thing as "work ethics" and "loyalty" on part of employees when nothing is given or guaranteed by employers is both silly and dangerous.
What A Jackass! (Score:2, Interesting)
If you are reading this article, I strongly suggest you read the following before listening to anything at all this guy has to offer, especially his request that you "look for another job". That is completely ludicrous.
Questions and Answers About Cancer in the Workplace and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) [eeoc.gov]
Re:If you are indespensible.. (Score:4, Interesting)
Fixed it again. I'd rather do minimum wage grudge work than management.
Agree to an extent (Score:1, Interesting)
Once you are cured, I believe there is no requirement that you tell future employers or clients about your prior illness
No shit? I thought I was obligated to tell everyone my health history. Then there's this golden bit:
A large number of cancers are not, strictly speaking, curable.
Gee, what about not strictly speaking? Are these cancers curable then? No? I guess cancer is a bit worse than the flu.
Summing Up
If you're gonna die as a programmer, be responsible. This is no different from any other spotaneous leave without contact. Don't be stupid.
Re:Facing death... (Score:5, Interesting)
That's why the games industry holds no interest for me- I'm a pretty decent 3D modeller but you couldn't pay me enough money to sell every waking hour to EA. Especially on a sequel. Until they all grow up I'm not going to touch them with a bargepole.
Re:This should be standard practice (Score:5, Interesting)
My fellow seniors and I have a little rule where I work - if it's not in CVS, it doesn't exist. Nothing gets deployed to a server that isn't in source control. Hard drives die, things are deleted by accident, and developer PCs are not backed up. The CVS server is (or should be - if it isn't, at least we are blameless if the shit hits the fan).
* Clearly document anything "strange" in the source code you deliver.
That's just common courtesy if nothing else. If you think something is odd while you're writing it, imagine how it's going to look to someone else coming to it cold. I've lost count of the time I've seen wasted (and have wasted myself) investigating weirdness in code, or even removing things that look completely wrong only to have something break subtley in an apparently unrelated area.
* Make certain you have a "buddy" developer who knows what you are doing.
This one I'm much less bothered about. However, that may be because I tend to actively discourage any concept of code ownership. It's not *my* code, it's the $feature code. If someone else needs to get in there in the course of their work, all the better - they may catch a mistake I've made, or a bad assumption. Even if it's perfect, it's one more person who knows the code. I think that ideally everyone on a team of developers should get stuck in to pretty much every module. It's rare (in my experience at least) that any part of an application is so specialised as to only be within the ability of a single team member.
Re:My first response is "Screw 'em"... (Score:2, Interesting)
br> I work for a government contracting company in which business can be volatile if we lose a contract. For instance, I was slated to work on a massive $300 million contract 2 years ago, but we lost it to Lockheed Martin. A lot of people thought they would lose their jobs, but the company has an internal research and development (IRAD) budget, so everyone was moved to research until permanent spots could be found. I was bounced between two different IRADs before I was placed on an actual contract last December. If it was all about the finances, the company would have laid me off, but they kept me on the payroll for almost 2 years on a project that meant $0 in revenue.
I'm sorry you've had bad experiences with loyalty and employers... But I beg to differ with you.
Re:Wow (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Hmm (Score:5, Interesting)
Hospice nurse's perspective.... (Score:2, Interesting)
cancer and the IT workplace (Score:5, Interesting)
Face it, people are selfish! (Score:3, Interesting)
Very human attitude. Granted. But it's what you leave behind that defines you as a person. We, as coders, are in a very bad position for that. Whatever we leave behind at work has, at best, a lifespan of a few years. If what we leave behind is "alive" 10 years after we're gone, it's most likely very obsolete code. I mean, think back about 10 years, consider the code you developed back then and ponder how much of said code is still productive.
Hardly any.
Some of us have a family. And if you have one, then yes, fu.. work, spend time with them. That's what you're gonna leave behind.
But from my point of view, I don't have a family. I won't have one. I don't really have that much money to leave some kind of foundation behind. What I have is my knowledge and my experience. Of both, I have lots, I dare say.
So my last plan would be to pass this on.
Re:Cancer Shmancer (Score:2, Interesting)
In November, 2004, an uncle of mine discovered he had lung cancer. Knowing him, it was no surprise that he, an engineer, continued working. Coming into 2005, he was still working but from home. It gave him a sense normalcy and kept his mind active (as well as kept him distracted). Even if it was for only a few hours a week, whenever he had the strength he'd spend time working. Through it all, he helped his colleagues in transferring as much of what he knew to them. And in May, he passed away.
His employers showed their appreciation by paying his salary as a fulltime employee till the time of his death. And they even sent his widow his annual bonus check at the end of the year. Many of them were there at his wake.
Sometimes, what goes around comes around.
You're dying, and you worry about code? (Score:3, Interesting)
All developers should do this.
Here's my advice for developers who find themselves with a terminal illness:
(1) Stop using a computer, and give all your source code/documents to your closest coworkers.
(2) Sell all your posessions.
(3) Pick a country where global economical differentials and exchange rates make your couple hundred thousand dollars a huge amount of usable capital.
(4) Move there.
(5) Start a business you can do in the sunlight, smelling a nearby ocean breeze, hopefully. Or simply live off the money you saved.
(6) Really, just _don't_ use your computer anymore.
That's my advice.
Re:Awkward Article (Score:3, Interesting)
[shrug] Not everyone reacts to cancer, or any other life-changing (and potentially life-ending) event, the same way. When my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, she told the people she thought needed to know, and kept on living her life exactly the same as she had before the diagnosis. She worked right up until the day before her surgery, and was back at work, IIRC, a week afterwards. Now, years later and (fortunately) with no sign of recurrence, she still feels that was the right decision -- that to give up on such a large part of her life (she's one of those lucky people who genuinely loves what they do) would have been tantamount to giving up on her life, if you see what I mean. She also cheerfully acknowledges that there is no one-size-fits-all approach.
Re:dispensible (Score:3, Interesting)