Here's a cut and paste of part of an email I sent to a client I like who asked if I was thinking of moving to [random place I'm not thinking ofmoving to].It's a generic argument pro telecommute.Here:Nonono... you *want* telecommuters. But don't call it that. Callit "distributed development". Tell everyone you're adopting Open Sourcemethodologies.And I'm not just saying this. Programmers need nine parts solitude to onepart communication. I know this seems odd and runs contrary to everythingelse, but the simple fact is that it takes eterney to get anything donewhen programming, so too much communication has the same effect as kids inthe back seat asking "are we there yet?" every five minutes on the way tothe Grand Canyon. The best programmers in offices devise ways to makepeople leave them alone. Headphones one such way. A bad attitude helpsproductivity a lot, too, for similar reasons. And in an office, it'seasier to make connections and politic and make excuses through thingsthan just get them done. Seen it a million times...But it's not that the interruption is annoying, it's that it's distracting.That's why nights are ideal. Concentration is so precious that we savor thattime after everyone else has gone to bed and there's near 0 chance of thephone ringing or even the neighbors loudly returning from the grocery store.This is something the "Free Software" people got right. Day in and day out,they sit in solitude in their dank geek lairs, but a few times a year,programmers working on major (and sometimes minor) projects will attachthemselves to some computer conference and all show up for a three day"codefest" where everyone can get everyone else pinned down, get the answersthey need, brainstorm, get help on tough bugs, get input, plan, and generallyinteract. Vegas just happens to be a quick hop over a splotch of wastelandfrom Pheonix.And besides, I've got this hair-brained notion that I'm going to get an apartment in some cozy ski villa, such as Park City, UT, and my girlfriend,the dogs, and I will all move in there and become ski bums. Er, the dogs,won't become ski bums, they'll just move in.
You’ll enjoy My Kingdom For A Door. (And most of HackNot in general, I assume.)
(Aside: you appear to have lost a bunch of whitespace when pasting; makes the post harder to read.)
