Amokrane

This assumes that you have access to the issues page. That's not always the case (when working as a contractor for instance). Also, tickets are not always filled properly, and often changes are not accompanied by a ticket. You get so many bonuses from writing good commit messages:

-> Overview of the latest changes without having to open additional links. Very handy for git bisects for instance.

-> Automatic generation of change logs.

-> It enforces changes that are purposeful and well scoped.

-> Knowledge stays with the Git repo. No data migration issues if you decide not to use GitHub anymore for instance...

-> And finally... it really just looks nice and professional. I would not take a project seriously if the Git log was just an aggregation of WIPs and Oopsies.

I have seen open-setting that are pretty quiet and where you can get more or less work done during regular work hours. The open space where I work today, though, is an absolute nightmare. It's not that I get interrupted for technical questions, I am interrupted for all sort of things: people around me telling jokes, playing basket-ball, laughing, singing, gossiping, reading their news feed out loud...

The thing that baffles me the most is: the person that generates much of the noise is actually quite productive, but destroys all the productivity around him.

Someone from management obviously needs to step in and do something about it. But they are probably afraid of loosing half the workforce in that area of the office, if they did anything serious to prevent this to happen.

Completely agree. On a side note, the one answer that I always get from management when I suggest that we should write more documentation is: "Well, writing documentation could be useful but maintaining it is hard. So I don't think it's a good idea".

As you said, this should be part of the culture. Documentation should be seen as an artifact that is equally as important as the software deliverable itself.

+1000. Why limit the actionable area to unveil a menu to an icon at the top left part of the scree (hard to reach on big screens), while the whole screen could be actionable.

I love it.

There is nothing wrong in finding inspiration in someone else who is better than you, to help build a better version of yourself. There is a subtle nuance between this and feeling jealous or envious.

The main reason why I used the verb 'compare', is because we are taught to think in terms of adversity/competition when it comes to learning in almost any field. I strongly believe that learning should only be about learning. And it turns out that if you learn the right things and if you work hard, for the sake of being good at something, then you will likely be highly ranked. But that should not be the goal.

I do agree with you guys. In the article I make the distinction between people you care about or love (read: family, close friends, your students, people you decided to help) and the others. Specifically, what I find to be dangerous is when you are not aware of the bad influence someone else has on you, and when you are only surrounded by these type of persons who believe that nothing is worth doing/living, then you might end up thinking the same way. It's funny that some comments are about people in the Silicon-Valley being too optimistic or even delusional, because I live in France and I commute frequently to the Bay Area. I find that when I leave to San Francisco, I always feel very morose and when I come back I am always in a fired up mood! But slowly, this mood disappears because the average french is pessimistic about almost everything.