Linux, Apache and Firefox are bad examples, as they don't have a customer with deadlines.

Some "face time" is absolutely essential when dealing with customers who are not themselves techies and are usually only semi-literate, as without it it is nigh-on impossible to figger out what they want, or to explain why what they want is a really bad idea, or to work out what the hell they're talking about in their latest bug report. If you never see them face to face, you can't walk over to someone having problems and say "show me".

In fact, even dealing with clueful, literate, technical people it can still be a lot easier to discuss some things face to face and draw diagrams for each other on pieces of paper. Compare the productivity of yer average programmer while he sits alone in his bedroom with the same programmer sitting in a room with other programmers at a hackathon where he can quickly bounce ideas off people, and where other people can overhear his discussions and butt in with fantastic ideas. Again, that doesn't matter for Linux, Apache and Firefox, because they can afford the extra time needed.

My ideal would probably be to work on-site two days a week. That gives enough time to cover all the issues above, with almost all of the benefits of working remotely. Most people who write code for a living aren't merely programmers. Almost all of them get involved to some degree or another in specifications, user testing, and so on. Those few who don't tend to be very junior, and so will benefit the most from spending time working with - being mentored by - their more experienced colleagues.

In reply to Re: A Guide to Hiring Programmers - The High Cost of Low Quality by DrHyde
in thread A Guide to Hiring Programmers - The High Cost of Low Quality by clinton

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