Openmoko on Design

[Carsten Haitzler (The Rasterman)]

On Wed, 30 Jul 2008 01:05:35 +0800 Marek Lindner <marek at openmoko.com> babbled:

> Do you mean that sentence: 
> "we are paid by openmoko to do what  we are told to do by the design 
> department and that is what we then do." If that's the state of things for 
> paid developers, then community contributors have even less hope.
> 
> Again, this is the statement from a single developer - I _definitely_ don't 
> agree with that. This is simply not the way it is. Honestly, I have never 
> seen a company that gives so much freedom to its employees. Sometimes I even 
> have the feeling this is more a democracy instead of a business here.  :-)

oooh.. i have to make this clear. this is EXACTLY how it has become. i have
done things differently in the past - because that was just what i saw needed
doing. i have disagreed. i have changed things to make things work better
(imho). and the response to this has been "grumble grumble - we don't like you
wasting all your time on things not in the design, but you just do whatever
you want to anyway because you can (and implied is the we don't like what you
do - but have very little ability to stop it)".

in fact even you were there at the time that was said. you have missed the
other time it was very explicitly stated to me in a meeting. i have rescinded my
freedom to do what i think is right, and do what i am instructed. those unhappy
with my "doing things different to/outside of the design" do not want to argue
- i don't either. so to cease arguments, i do as instructed. you joined
openmoko after we started on ASU and have missed a lot of history.

i also will disagree with openmoko giving developers so much freedom - i have
worked with significantly more freedom in the past at linux/open source
companies. much more. openmoko is middle-of-the-road in this department, and not
an outstanding beacon, neither is it a sweatshop dungeon :)

-- 
Carsten Haitzler (The Rasterman) <raster at openmoko.org>