dont be silly like me and go on justine.tv. big mistake (i am at work)

looks like web.py has some interesting ideas and useful data munging functions. but unless there's something i'm really missing, most normal web apps (that aren't completely trivial) are way better off using turbogears or django, which provide mature and usable components (templating, object-relational mapper/query building/db access, web/WSGI server). i've built a couple reasonably large web apps using turbogears and love it (although i use cheetah instead of kid) and django seems to be winning the python framework race.

not to sound overly harsh, but web.py seems like a big case of NIH. each of its pieces seem like v0.1s of more established counterparts. mature web frameworks are occasionally big and ugly _because_ they work around that random safari bug from 2002 or the flash 8 player's uploader non-RFC-compliant MIME-multipart requests and all the unicode encoding and DB integration nits, etc. the plumbing looks gross because the surface area of the problem they solve is gross.

and with the big frameworks, thankfully hordes of others have banged their heads against and solved these issues; with a "lighter" framework, or one of the 4328429 me-too python web frameworks from 2001-2004 that didn't really make the cut, you're volunteering to blunder into and track down all these problems yourself over the next year or two -- probably not the best use of your time or problem solving skills.

I disagree with his idea that you should not have a private office.

Granted, I don't currently have an office job, but given that a phone call or knock on my door will rip me straight out of the flow, I can't imagine even being able to get in it in the first place in a room with half a dozen other people all madly typing away, making noises, and moving around in my peripheral vision.

Gee, why didn't I think of that? I'll just feature my internet startup on the nationwide cable show that I co-host!

I believe Joel gets some of his ideas about workspace arrangements from the book "Peopleware" by DeMarco and Lister.

In the book, they don't necessarily argue for an individual private office for every programmer, but argue that a quality work environment has enormous benefits. Interruptions cause huge problems, and random noise can be distracting as well. A door that shuts is one of the most important parts of being able to reduce interruptions and random noise.

A personal office isn't mandatory in order to make progress along those lines. The book actually suggests that you set aside a space for a small group of people (1-4), with furniture that can be easily rearranged.

edit: Just a another comment on the article...

BDUF Big Design Up Front: I think it might be a mistake to assume Joel's arguments in favor of software specifications imply BDUF. A specification is a fluid thing. It helps ease communication between all parties throughout the development process, and lets you save time figuring out some kinds of problems.

Wait, shouldn't that be "Had enough Justin?" Man, the Chronicle always has the sloppiest headlines.

PHP Easter eggs tell us everything:

http://basecamphq.com/?=PHPB8B5F2A0-3C92-11d3-A3A9-4C7B08C10000 http://backpackit.com/?=PHPB8B5F2A0-3C92-11d3-A3A9-4C7B08C10000

With laptops and no PHBs why even make a decision?

I really like both. When doing work that is highly collaborative it's nice to have everyone in spitting distance. When I have have no need for discussion with others I love my solitary hackathons. The most productive times I've had were moving back and forth between the two environments freely.

Really? The most asinine thing ever? I don't agree with that, but you do have a point. Still, it is interesting that 37Singnals is using PHP, not shocking, not mind-blowing, but interesting. Just like it would be interesting if Microsoft were using Java for MSN.

The funny thing is that standard cubicles are well-suited to making it difficult for you to do that.

Cubicles are neither private, nor collaborative. Cubicles create social barriers between you and your neighbors, yet do little to block the flow of noise in the environment. There's no real privacy, yet no sense that collaboration is encouraged.

Hi All, Thanks for your interest, and I just got notification this morning that we are up and running on LinkedIn. If you previously sent me an email, you can join the group simply by clicking here.

If you want to be added, go to the link above to join or simply send me an email with your First Name, Last Name and Email Address to yclinkedin@gmail.com.

Finally, there were a couple of people who asked about getting the list of emails to use to start a newsgroup, or email chain. Since I didnt ask people for permission to do that, I'd suggest simply starting a new thread and people can submit their info there if they want to.

Thanks a lot, and happy networking, Eddie

PS I resubmitted this so the actual link can be in the title.

Isn't that just telling you that the web server has PHP loaded into it?

Pretty much any service has these same terms. What do you expect them to do? Promise to not do anything similar to any app people happen to build? Promise to provide free access forever? No responsible business would do that.

Any time you're building your business on top of something that isn't in your control, you should be cautious. This isn't any different.