strredwolf | (no subject)

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comic genesis

(no subject)

I usually don't blog about stuff inside Comic Genesis, but then... well, a bit of work philosophy.

You see, I'm a bit open about how I work. I've found out that the more people know, the less they question and the less they bother you about things. I'd rather know what's going on and have some documentation over having to dig through source code myself (the latter is evident with AutoKeen, which I rewrote into WolfKeen and hopefully will soon test publicly). I try to maintain a To-Do list on the CG Wiki, so that everyone knows what I'm trying to work on and that I know what I have to do (because I forget, I'm only human).

However, my co-admin has a different philosophy that doesn't mesh -- she rather do it and leave everyone behind, causing major problems when I try to do something that was valid before her changes. She doesn't tell anyone despite being asked many times, having several avenues of communications availible to her. I keep asking and asking, and nothing is being replied back until I force the issue. It makes me look bad, it makes her look bad, it makes CG look bad, it makes Keenspot look bad.

Over CG's IRC channel, we got into an argument. I didn't know what was going on and I ask. I wait and ask again. I wait again. And then I tell people that I will wait, with was a passing threat (even though I felt it wasn't). Then the co-admin starts virtually wailing into me while questions finally get answered... and it devoles down to a volunteer asking the co-admin about something, getting a friend to help her, and the co-admin saying yes. I wasn't told. I didn't get any word of this, after asking her to. And I get hell when I try to find out myself.

I asked her again, over and over, to talk to me, tell me what she's doing so I can:

Get out of her way
Raise objections if need be
Support the end product when folks email me

It's such a simple thing. Tell me what you're doing. I'm already telling you what I'm doing. Talk to me. I don't automatically shoot everything down. Just talk to me.

And yet she doesn't do it, and does her own thing, giving me the excuse that I'd shoot it down or kill it.

Yeah. Like the individual forums idea she wanted to do. Folks couldn't wait, and wanted forums now. I dragged that out and asked folks opinions. I told her that before, durring, and now I've had to clean up her attempts because we need the server for another use.

I know about the co-admin's problems outside CG. I do read her journal. She did contact me and Keenspot when she was having problems securing Internet access, and Keenspot helped out.

I know we're having problems. I'm willing to work things out, but it's like I'm being left behind. I don't like that, especially when I asked to be kept in the loop in order to perform my role at CG admin. When I'm unable to do that, I will make myself known so I can...

...and if it continues on for too long, I will have to take drastic action.

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I hope you realize you aren't left out of the loop, only left out of the negotiation panel. I would much rather get something done then have to wait for approval I don't need if it's not going to break anything. That entire issue with the forum slaving was a disagreement in how to add more forums without killing the entire thing, I wanted redundancy, you wanted 'now'.

You're wanting 'now' is what pisses people off when you come into the middle of things and meddle where you weren't asked to, or form a conclusion without knowing all the answers.

I don't want this to turn into good cop/bad cop, with you always portrayed as the bad cop. Take a look at ComicGenesis History and see how it is almost always you taking unilateral action AND getting the flack for it.

I'll be honest and admit I've been leaving you behind in development matters because I don't want you even trying to fix anything I write, because when you do, it gets broken worse. There are three rules I try to abide by in coding:
1. Write bug-free code (always fix warnings)
2. Write secure-first code (always initialze variables, validate everything)
3. Write flexible code (no throw-away code, a lot of perl stuff uses the same framework)

Nowhere in there is "document clearly" or "get approvals from 15 layers of management"

So this means that in Perl, always using use strict and -w, in PHP this is turning on the debugger and making sure there are no warnings, ever. PHP is a lot more difficult to get bug-free code since there is no defined output. It either works or you get the white screen of death.

I experiment a lot and only put in code that I know works. Sometimes it outgrows it's usefulness like the last version of the newsbox. Sometimes it was written for one thing and got used somewhere else (the ENTIRE database backend was designed for the GUIDE originally.)

What really pisses me off is when you decide to do something that has a major effect on ComicGenesis and people complain. I always put a poll in the forums to see if people even want said feature if it's going to be significant. Check out the newsbox size poll, I opted to implement all the sizes anyways (as different ad caches), but the 150x300 image size is still the newsbox size. There were times where you were saying that you were going to change the size to the keenspot size and I was like NO we aren't, and you still repeated it.

I even remember back when I proposed half of this DB design for a new database backend, when nate actually did something on the server, and we agreed to use a new backend... and nothing became of it. So not everything I want to do ever works. There was the experimental help.keenspace.com that didn't work (The wiki was a much better idea), there was putting the jams in the wiki, that didn't work. There was the javascript flatfile newsbox that didn't get used by more than three people, there was a bunch of utilities I wrote in shell script and perl when we still had the flatfile backend that people used and I wound up throwing them away because they weren't adaptable to the database.

The FIRST program I ever wrote that used a database is a perl program to automate changing the forums and tying it to the keenspace account... guess why this never was released? Because I wanted the database backend for keenspace at the time and the flatfiles were easily destroyed.

So using the forums as the main "author-user" database was part of MY plan all along, and I would still throw this all away if I could write everything from scratch.

In fact It wouldn't be too far fetched to just write a dozen different updaters... you know HTML3.2, HTML4.01, XHTML, XHTML+CSS,XSLT, AJAX, etc and let the user use. I'm all for choice. I converted most of the existing Autokeen to have both XHTML and XHTML+CSS versions of tags so people could do some customization, something I wanted to back before I EVER did anything with keenspace. You might say my having anything to do with keenspace was being in the right place at the right time.

Let me go through your post:

I'll be honest and admit I've been leaving you behind in development matters because I don't want you even trying to fix anything I write, because when you do, it gets broken worse. There are three rules I try to abide by in coding:
1. Write bug-free code (always fix warnings)
2. Write secure-first code (always initialze variables, validate everything)
3. Write flexible code (no throw-away code, a lot of perl stuff uses the same framework)

Nowhere in there is "document clearly" or "get approvals from 15 layers of management"

Unfortunately, you have a problem. You have at least one person (me) who has to support CG along with you, and who know who else will come down the line and become a full admin. Leaving me out of the development causes me to do what you describe: take unilateral action BECAUSE I don't know better AND take flack for it. I HATE THAT!

What really pisses me off is when you decide to do something that has a major effect on ComicGenesis and people complain. I always put a poll in the forums to see if people even want said feature if it's going to be significant. Check out the newsbox size poll, I opted to implement all the sizes anyways (as different ad caches), but the 150x300 image size is still the newsbox size. There were times where you were saying that you were going to change the size to the keenspot size and I was like NO we aren't, and you still repeated it.

What pisses me off is when you decide to do something that has a major effect on CG, and I'm left out of the loop. I don't check the forums often, and sometimes I don't see you polling on stuff you do change. I see things that are broken and there's no bug report, no notice saying "This is broken, don't touch it, I'm working on it" and I get people calling me on IM, Email, on LJ and the Forums saying "WHAT'S GOING ON, THIS IS BROKEN!!!"

Take Siteadmin for instance. Folks are complaining they can't log in, and I'm turning into a FAQ machine saying "Use your forum account, then hook your comic account to it." I just now inserted a one-line mod there saying "Please use your CG Forum account to login" to try to kill the whole mess.

Now, I've made what I want to change public. It's on the CG Wiki as RedWolf's Todo List (http://cgwiki.comicgenesis.com/index.php/RedWolf%27s_Todo_List). I'm going to keep that updated, and I'd love people come to me when they have a concern about what I'm doing.

You keep getting complaints about me, and I've asked you to forward them to me. I think last night was the second time I've asked you to do so. If you want me to change, and I don't know what is wrong, how am I going to know what I do need to change?

I'll make one comment here, that I can see is a HUGE problem.

I'm a computer consultant. I own my own company, although it's only me at this point (It's been as high as three people). I know a number of programmers, and I know good programming style.

You don't have it.

Here are the rules.

1) Document your code.
2) Document your code.
3) Document your code.

It doesn't matter HOW wonderful and bug free your code is, unless you are ONLY writing it for your own use, in your house, on your own personal PC. If it's anywhere ELSE, someone else may end up having to use it, modify it, or support it. If you're part of a community effort, then your attitude of "I don't want you even trying to fix anything I write" is not only stupid, it's unethical. Part of the reason I'm _not_ doing anything with Keen is because I was left in a vaccum - fixing problems and answering questions is impossible without at least some information.

Thus, documentation.

What happens if you get hit by a truck tomorrow, and someone else _does_ have to modify your code, support it, or otherwise? What if you have to take a two month leave of absence, and don't remember what you did? (Don't even TRY to pull the "I know my code" bullshit.)

I can hand you several hundred pieces of code written for a MUD that are well written, with zero documentation. I'd bet you'd have just as much problem as I would figuring out what the person was supposed to be doing with it - and you can't debug it properly because it's depending on something that was modified in another portion of the base code - which has no documentation either.

If you aren't willing to write documentation - even after you've finished the code - you should get out of programming completely, unless you hire a technical writer to go behind you and document.

However, that brings us back to communication. If you aren't willing to tell other people what you're doing, why you're doing it, and how it's going to affect things, you're obviously not communicating well enough to have someone else put documentation in.

You figure out what I'm saying here. It's pretty obvious.

Bookworm

I am not paid officially to work on comicgenesis, nor do I have the time to do everything I want with it. One of those is documenting everything. I Document changes to other code, but you know what, almost nothing was documented from the start. AutoKeen and PHPBB2 have scant if non-existant documentation. Redwolf leaves me out of the loop when he fixes something in my code so I have to sometimes revert the whole bloody thing to figure out why it's broken worse. Take the comment about changing the login page, well I had to go and revert it back to the original pre-modifcation-by-anyone and make each modification again manually untill it worked right.

I don't apply for programming jobs because I don't really care to work on programming, despite any talent I have for it. Any programming I do have done for comicgenesis was purely out of me wanting to improve it.

Strredwolf has to remember that he is not the be all ends-all to comicgenesis and this entire tiff started with him threating DMCA against someone ELSE WHO WAS VOLUNTEERING TO DO SOMETHING WITH COMICGENESIS.

The last person, and I do mean the LAST person that I got into this kind of argument with, I quit. It's not worth my time to argue with someone who doesn't listen, who makes dangerous threats, and pisses off everyone. This also happened three years ago to the date. I am not wanting a repeat of it.

Strredwolf has to remember that he is not the be all ends-all to comicgenesis and this entire tiff started with him threating DMCA against someone ELSE WHO WAS VOLUNTEERING TO DO SOMETHING WITH COMICGENESIS.

Let me clarify what started this:

Someone volunteered herself and her friend to help with Comic Genesis skin the CG Forums.
You said yes, go ahead. YOU DID NOT TELL ANYONE ELSE YOU DID THAT
I come along, not knowing any better, and find her friend doing something which I thought was wrong.
I try to ask the friend about it, and don't get a quick responce. I then said I'll wait, because I didn't want to do any legal wrangling. IF THAT IS A THREAT SO BE IT.
Then all hell breaks loose when everyone goes in and starts wailing on me for how I tried to get information!

It all comes back to how you're not communicating your intents and purposes to me and the rest of CG. I'm supporting CG, Kisai, along with you -- and Nate did say we have to work together. If you do not want a repeat of what happened three years ago, then take Bookworm's advise to heart: [b]You[/b] need to change when someone is willing to listen, willing to change, but is not getting what he is asking for to effect those changes.

"The last person, and I do mean the LAST person that I got into this kind of argument with, I quit."

If it keeps happening that you have such arguments with people, maybe it's you and not them?

Look Kisai, nothing against you personally, but you're not what I would consider a good coder. There has been more than one occasion when I've had to set you straight on how something works because you were making a foolish and/or dangerous assumption about how the application or database works.

That's not to say I don't think you have the potential to do wondrous things, nor that I don't appreciate you for what you have accomplished, but it makes the fact that you don't communicate with Striker that much worse.

In a professional environment, it's extremely important to talk with your colleagues to make sure that you're on the right track, and to make sure that you're not the absolute only person who can do something (like support code). So why should you tackle this with anything less than a professional attitude? Because you're not being paid? Give me a break. This is a job, whether you're paid or not, and if you're not up to the task of working as part of a team, and can't handle the amount of work to do it properly, maybe you SHOULD quit.

Striker has his own issues. He's often heavy-handed in his relations with the users, but he's got a good head on his shoulders and seems pretty good at not only knowing what is the right thing to do (when talking about code/systems), but how and why. He just needs some adjustment on his people skills :) (sorry man, but it's true ;) )

Honestly, if the two of you cut all of the bullshit out and worked as a team I think that CG would be far better than anything else, but your seeming hatred for him drags everyone down.

You just need to realize that he has the same goal as you, and if you help each other and work as a team you will do better. If you keep him out of the loop you're going to continue to bash heads with each other, over and over and over, and that benefits no one. It makes for a worse system, more difficult to fix, more difficult to keep working, harder to use and with more conflict than anyone needs to see.

"Without Striker, there is no loop." Make that your mantra. It's a good place to start. Keep the lines of communication going so that if someone contacts him with a problem he has a chance to figure it out.

Sam

"He just needs some adjustment on his people skills :) (sorry man, but it's true ;) )"

Yeah, I got to get out more too so I can.

I didn't bring Strike into this at all. I was referring _only_ to your comment about documentation.

No, documentation doesn't take much time. I'm not talking about reams of paper describing everything, I'm talking about a line of text that says things like..

# 02/22/05 - Added regexp() to search names through this function.

One of the absolute WORST coders I ran across liked to call functions crap like good_stuff() and really_good_stuff().

I had to debug his code more than once due to breakages in other sections done by other people. Needless to say, crap like that doesn't help much.

What you COULD do is set up a forum of your own, and every time you go to do anything (either of you), just put in a post. That'll datestamp, do a subject, and you have a starting point.

Subject: Working on glimmer_txt.php
Body: Changing to allow green aliens to shine.

(note - I've found that Wiki's are much harder to use for casual things like this)

BW

You know what I wrote 10 pages of stuff, but I'd rather sum it up this way:
I'm not paid for it, My code is MY code, If I'm hit by a truck tomorrow, nobody cares anyways.

I don't apply for programming jobs because I don't really care to work on programming, despite any talent I have for it.

No fucking shit you don't. I'm sorry, random stranger who commented on a blog I read, but this is absolute anathema. The following cannot be stated in strong enough terms.

When people go to program something professionally, in large teams, they have one guy who wears the hat labeled "tech lead". This person has a few jobs, but one of the most important ones is to eat the liver of anyone who isn't documenting their code. Newbie programmers get boxed about the ears about it over and over, with their jobs on the line of threat, until they acquiesce to make very clear what they're doing, and participate in top-of-file changelogs.

No, you're not getting paid. Yes, it's a hassle. Document your code. Document your changes. I personally can't believe ANYONE could stand working with you if this is your attitude on code documentation.

Document.
Document.
DOCUMENT.

I'm not going to turn this into a bloody LJDrama(TM)

READ: "I DO NOT DO PROGRAMMING OUTSIDE OF COMICGENESIS"

Fine, if I get hit by a truck tomorrow, I don't care. I'm not saying I like not documenting the code, but rather that's the only thing between me working on it and KeenSPOT hiring someone to do it.

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