What is Digg?29 Comments
- neondiet, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3
It probably helps too if your other half is working and contributing to the house hold income.
One thing he didn't mention is how to cope with "cabin fever". I work with 2 other guys, our own little 3 man company. Its easy to cope with being a (sort of) independent when I'm on customer site, or working away with my colleagues. But sometimes you end up stuck in the home office for days at a time with nothing but an empty house for company. We often conference for hours on Skype to keep some kind of human contact going. But after a few days at home it starts to drive you a little mad. The GF getting home from work is the most anticipated event of the day, and I just can't wait to get out and socialize with other people. I had an ex-GF a several years ago who tried running her own recruitment agency business from home and she keenly felt the sense of loneliness during the day. In the end we got a cat just to give her something to talk to.
Bottom line, its not just the cash, skilz and self motivation you need. You need to be able to cope with the change in your social life too.
- meteors, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3You've been "on Linux" for three months, and already "writing apps"? Yeah, I'm sure your stuff is just great.
I think it takes a good 2 1/2 - 3 years to become really proficient in a language, and I think the author's advice is pretty sound.
Naysayers, raise your hand if you're actually a self-employed developer......
Yeah, that's what I thought.
;-)
-j - legendxx, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2wow are you guys dumb?
Hes being sarcastic when he says 1068... hes not trying to sell his ideas to you.. he just titled his article in a manner that is overused in the computer world so nerds would recognize it.
Live a little - mancat, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Or you can just go to college.
- linker3000, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11068? That had no credibility - it must be a power of 2 - say 1024 days.
- Jack9, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Took me 6 months.
- KarlSage, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I can't do this, i onl have 1067 days to get the project in on time X(
- meangene, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0+digg for knowing this guy indirectly. Which means not at all but I know a buddy of his.
- aiiee, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Took me 6 years to become proficient enough in mfg/pro so that I could work alone. Then they took the source code away and I had to relearn how to code without access to all the source. It's always somethin'
- tobsterius, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0this isn't just learning how to program in 1068 days, this is building and incorporating his own business and becoming somewhat successful enough so he can quit his day job and work on his dream full time.
And it does sound like he went to college. He mentions that the only class he failed was CS 103(Intro to C).
Read people :) - dognose, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0It took me 8 years.
- OrangeTide, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0It took me 8407 days.
- iWorks, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"It took me 8407 days." - OrangeTide
...and all you have to show for it is that t-shirt? - bullium, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Great story...at least his story is a true one. A digg for a good read. Good luck buddy.
- FredWatanabe, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0sounds like a plan worth looking into
- jayf, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Good read.
I too would love to go solo.
The software industry is a joke for the most part.
You wouldn't put a guy in charge of building a house if he/she didn't know how to use a hammer but this is exactly what happens day in and day out in the software world. The pointy haired bosses are real and are everywhere.
Help!!! - emag, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0neondiet:
One thing he didn't mention is how to cope with "cabin fever". I work with 2 other guys, our
own little 3 man company. Its easy to cope with being a (sort of) independent when I'm on
customer site, or working away with my colleagues. But sometimes you end up stuck in the
home office for days at a time with nothing but an empty house for company. We often
conference for hours on Skype to keep some kind of human contact going. But after a few
days at home it starts to drive you a little mad. The GF getting home from work is the most
anticipated event of the day, and I just can't wait to get out and socialize with other people.
Amen! Even though I work for a corporate entity right now, my manager is awesome, and since I was coming off another project when he set up an OSS group, I'm working from home most of the time. Cabin fever's definitely an issue, even with cats, IRC, IM, and Skype. I actually find myself going out at sunch sometimes on sittle shopping trips just to see and interact with others, and I find I really look forward to the GF coming home more now than I used to.
Ideally, I'd like to go independent at some point myself, but I don't think I'm quite ready to take the plunge yet. - Genericity, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I agree with ham_man
Also being a contractor or independent developer on a job to job basis is different than developing custom software apps and then selling them to make a living. I think it is easy to be a contractor where money comes in as soon as the job kicks off - but with custom apps you don't make money until people buy the thing. Two different worlds. - drdewm, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Time is only a small part of the equation. I've been writing apps for years and still suck at it. Like any art you either have what it takes or you don't.
- fanboy00, on 10/12/2007, -0/+03 years is too long, i want to be a independent Programmer in 24 hours, no digg.
- ham_man, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0This isn't about becoming a programmer. This is about writing good enough apps to be able to feed your family on what you earn selling your apps, which is a hell of a lot harder than alot of people would imagine...
- ceekay, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0While you're at it, read "The True Story of Audion" (which Gus mentions and links to). Another interesting, humorous look at the life of a shareware dev, this one from the angle of having a good shareware mp3 player then iTunes being released (ouch!)
http://digg.com/technology/The_True_Story_of_Audion - optimusfx, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Mac indie developers rock. I highly recommend the Adler video mentioned at the top of the article.
- glitchbit, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0goals, I believe people do need to set goals that improve on a monthly basis, if you make such and such one month then the purpose of the next month is to do better and make more. Standing still is not a good thing and your only other option is to do worse unless you have a goal set to do better from the previous month.
- crpietschmann, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"Or you can just go to college." - mancat
College has nothing to do with it. When you buy software from a company, do you care how much education or experience their developers have? No, you could care less. All you care is that the app works and works well.
Now the real question is when do you start counting days? At the moment of writing this; Its been 8863.5 days since I was born. - g30ph, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Hitchhiker: You heard of this thing, the 8-Minute Abs?
Ted: Yeah, sure, 8-Minute Abs. Yeah, the excercise video.
Hitchhiker: Yeah, this is going to blow that right out of the water. Listen to this: 7... Minute... Abs.
Ted: Right. Yes. OK, alright. I see where you're going.
Hitchhiker: Think about it. You walk into a video store, you see 8-Minute Abs sittin' there, there's 7-Minute Abs right beside it. Which one are you gonna pick, man?
Ted: I would go for the 7.
Hitchhiker: Bingo, man, bingo. 7-Minute Abs. And we guarantee just as good a workout as the 8-minute folk.
Ted: You guarantee it? That's - how do you do that?
Hitchhiker: If you're not happy with the first 7 minutes, we're gonna send you the extra minute free. You see? That's it. That's our motto. That's where we're comin' from. That's from "A" to "B".
Ted: That's right. That's - that's good. That's good. Unless, of course, somebody comes up with 6-Minute Abs. Then you're in trouble, huh?
Hitchhiker convulses
Hitchhiker: No! No, no, not 6! I said 7. Nobody's comin' up with 6. Who works out in 6 minutes? You won't even get your heart goin, not even a mouse on a wheel.
Ted: That - good point.
Hitchhiker: 7's the key number here. Think about it. 7-Elevens. 7 doors. 7, man, that's the number. 7 chipmunks twirlin' on a branch, eatin' lots of sunflowers on my uncle's ranch. You know that old children's tale from the sea. It's like you're dreamin' about Gorgonzola cheese when it's clearly Brie time, baby. Step into my office.
Ted: Why?
Hitchhiker: 'Cause you're *****' fired! - falloutsyndrome, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0heh, i've been on linux for 3 mo. and i'm already writing apps. he better be able to tell us to code the perfect os in 1068 days ;)
- TheD, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Mac = ROCK!
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -4/+0Duh.. ahha
Kiltak
http://geeksaresexy.blogspot.com
© Digg Inc. 2009
— Content created and posted by Digg users is