Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.
Re: ArsDigita University
Author: Dennis Peterson Posted: 4/17/2000; 7:46:55 AM Topic: Re: ArsDigita University Msg #: 16324 (In response to 16317) Prev/Next: 16323 / 16325
If so, it sounds like a win-win to me. The students not only get an education, they get a job offer from a pretty cool company. (And it does appear to be a good general CS curriculum, not just Arsdigita stuff.) Pure altruism is admirable, but enlightened self-interest can be almost as good.In the same vein, Phil gives away his code. Ask him why, and he doesn't give you Stallmanesque morality, he just tells you that by building a user base he can charge $300 an hour customizing the code for big customers. But I can still dive into the code myself if I want to, and Phil won't charge me a dime. (Oracle might.)
Phil has been known to practice altruism as well, though he's tends to downplay it. But enlightened self-interest can be more sustainable, and more likely to be duplicated by others. The more we can figure out how to help ourselves by helping others, the better off we'll all be.
(Disclaimer: Phil's writings were a big help in my transition from low-paid graphic artist to well-paid web/database programmer, so I'm a bit biased.)
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