Comments on: The Software Craftsman Cooperative

By: David Starr

David Starr — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 15:37:36 +0000

@Chris Nelson Wow! I had not heard of GasLight before. That is a wonderful model. I am intrigued, man. That's great.

By: Chris Nelson

Chris Nelson — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 20:55:51 +0000

This sounds a lot like the idea we had when starting Gaslight Software, but on a larger scale. I’d definitely be interested in hearing more about it.

By: Elegant Code » Software Craftsman Cooperative Membership

Elegant Code » Software Craftsman Cooperative Membership — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 18:30:57 +0000

[...] I announced the formation of the the Software Craftsman Cooperative, a group of independent developers who have come together [...]

By: John Sonmez

John Sonmez — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 14:54:02 +0000

Very good idea. I am very interested in joining. I happen to be local to Boise also. I feel like most of the consulting jobs I take the first 6 months are so is just getting that code quality standards up to par, and implementing basic things like unit testing and continuous integration. I would rather be delivering solid code, with those things already in place, but in order to do that you need to have like minded people that do not need to be trained on best practices. This is difficult without some kind of solution like your SCC.

By: Andy Palmer

Andy Palmer — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 00:08:38 +0000

Sounds great.
I was wondering… Is “having proven experience with the Microsoft stack” a requirement of being in the collective?

The stated values are very similar to our own at RiverGlide, as well as ICareAboutSoftware.org and codemanship.com (set up by Jason Gorman, who ran the Software Craftsmanship conference in the UK in February 2009)

I hope we see more like-minded individuals and communities springing up this year

By: Steve Strong

Steve Strong — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 21:23:51 +0000

I’d agree that corporate membership probably isn’t appropriate for what you’re trying to accomplish. Once businesses rather than individuals get involved I could imagine some conflicts occurring. Keeping things as a group of cooperating, like-minded individuals almost certainly keeps the “politics” simpler. I could imagine members of the SCC also having “day jobs”, providing that they kept the SCC activities separated from their other commitments. Just me thinking out loud – always dangerous

By: Britt King

Britt King — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 20:59:18 +0000

Great idea, David, and thanks to James Johnson for showing it to me. Let me know what us independent marketing guys can do to help promote your cooperative. I’d love to be involved in something like this.

Best of luck!

By: David Starr

David Starr — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 20:36:41 +0000

Well, something smaller than ThoughtWorks

We are focusing on individual membership as opposed to corporate membership for now. That seems to clear it up for most. That way a single organization isn’t likely to try and put 10 names on the list.

That said, if you do consulting and write software for a living and you don’t have a boss, that’s a good place to start.

By: Steve Strong

Steve Strong — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 18:42:21 +0000

That’s an awesome idea! What’s the definition of “small consultancy or software boutique”?

By: David Starr

David Starr — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 18:32:45 +0000

Starting small to see how things go. Honestly, I am sure this could be bigger than we would want it to be soon if we let it. Deliberate growth is the idea.