Nick Bradbury: Thanks, Dave

Nick Bradbury: Thanks, Dave

I would like to echo this, although I am a bit late in the uptake.

There is a comment here about how Dave can be "a right dick sometimes," in reference to the comments about Adam Curry. I don't know Dave at all, and I am not going to pretend to fully understand him (or any human being for that manner), however I am a programmer and have worked with programmers for 15+ years. This gives me some insight into the programmer psyche.

At the end of the day, programming is a creative process and a program is an expression of the programmer's creativity. I am not talking here about the art vs. engineering debate that has gone on for years in the industry (and, not doubt, will continue to go on). For programmers, creating a program is like painting, writing a book, or composing music.

As a result we tend to have a lot of ego tied up in our projects. Maybe ego is not the best word, but it is the best I can come up with right now. Programmers of all types have a passion for their work, from the creators of Doom 4 to Turbo Tax. Just like a painter or composer, they suffer through the bad reviews, celebrate the good reviews, and will defend their work like a mother defends their baby.

As a programmer, to see your name consistently left out of something you helped to create would be about as bad as seeing someone plagerize your work. It would be like someone putting their name on a Picaso. Was leaving Dave's name off Adam Curry's fault? Probably not - without seeing all the raw interview material we cannot know for certain. However given my insight into how programmers' minds work I can see where Dave's reaction is expected. It sounds like they two have buried the hatchet, and not in each other's head.