Adrian Chadd wrote:
The trouble is that the entry barrier for coding is so low, you can
"code" without any "clue".
This very issue gave rise to some heated debate over on the LINK mailing
list, which some of you attend.
Many of us computer "professionals" were peeved by this low barrier to
entry into the software industry. Computer software creation is not a
certified profession like engineering. There are far toomany shiesters out
there peddling crap software because they can. This gives rise to many
many problems in IT.
I guess I am lucky enough to see the other side of the story.. both
here and overseas..
When I was growing up, there wasn't enough money for university. So
accreditation was frankly impossible - only open to kids with richer
parents. Those more privileged than myself.
Through hard work.. way more than getting a degree.. I hacked out a
career in software. Against all the odds..
Living I get from it now is not too bad..
Recently, in my travels and open source exploits, I have had the
privilege to help young programming hopefuls in poor countries get
runs on the board to enable them to then go off and get proper paid
work in their own countries. They do some coding, i pay them and give
them a reference.
Often they go off to bigger and better things..
It's been tremendously rewarding...
I wouldn't say that the quality of these young hopefuls is any less
good than a university student of the same age....
At the end of the day... software is judged by whether it works for
the customer or not. Not whether it has a long list of accreditations.
If you want to find "toomany shiesters out there peddling crap"... I
suggest you go look in the accreditation industry.... is it little
more than selling pretentious scout badges to detract from the quality
of the software ?
Seriously... how many of the worlds best open source projects are
properly "accredited" from the start ?
please...
lets keep the self balancing system.....
David
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