The Open Source Paradox

Content Four Horsemen Of The Linux Sys Programming

Content There's an old "ha ha, only serious" joke. If you go to a Linux forum and ask for help fixing your WiFi driver, everyone will ignore you. If, instead, you say "Linux sucks, you can't even get a fing WiFi driver working!" thousands of people will solve the problem for you.

The sweet innocent smile of contributing to open source vs. the ABSOLUTE HORROR when you realize intelligence agencies might be lurking in your pull requests! 😱 Your cute little "fixed a typo" commit? CONGRATS, you just helped the CIA, FSB, and Mossad improve their surveillance code! Free and Open Source Software becomes Free and Open Spying Software when the alphabet soup agencies decide your project looks like a PERFECT place to slip in some "extra features." Nothing says "community-driven development" like wondering if that random contributor from nowhere is actually a spy with a government paycheck! TRUST ISSUES ACTIVATED!

Content So, tell me about yourself Error 406: Not accepted I'm web developer! I can show you all basics of the front end! It's so easy!

Content NORMAL PEOPLE: clicks on the Youtube link they like PROGRAMMERS: "If i click on this, Youtube recommendation algorithm will think i like this type of content. I will copy link and open it in incognito"

Content You: - fairly average software dev - claims not to be competitive, but secretly dreams of landing on the leaderboard at least once - uses a full IDE; wastes a minute right out the gate waiting for it to start - still parsing the problem statement while others are already submitting answers actually uses a debugger when things aren't working Your competition: "Hackerman" - IntoSec maior - sits at his PC on a near-lethal dose of Adderall waiting for the timer to hit 00:00 - has automated scripts for pulling the input and submitting solutions, and his own library of helper functions for every imaginable problem class - knows vour IP at all times "-mhtwalters" - research scientist at Intel - does puzzles for fun that are harder than any job you will ever have - so utterly bored with the problems that he creates increasingly ridiculous self-imposed restrictions to keep things interesting - solved last year exclusively in APL on a System360 emulator, and still finished 9th on the global leaderboard - personal homepage is HTML 2.0 compliant "wihbr" - software dev from undisclosed Eastern- European country, making 200kyr for a company you've never heard of - is in literally every coding competition -Twitch stream is just a Vim terminal and the sounds of a mechanical keyboard - types faster than you can read or think "Tharg" - Linux kernel hacker - specialization in compiler design - is golfing in some esoteric language nobody has ever heard of - can mentally transpile any code he sees to assembly - measures his solutions performance in actual clock cycles - overworked Chinese university student, double majoring in theoretical physics and chemical engineering - has been locked into various educational institutions since he was 3 years old - only time outside of school is for piano lessons - can literally only see the relevant parts of the problem statement - you will not understand his solutions without a PhD in discrete mathematics "Samir Nagheenanajar" - outsourced IT support technician - does puzzles because he has nothing better to do during - forced to solve in Excel because he isn't allowed to install other software - can reveal the face of God using only BA - rumored to possess the combined knowledge and power of all Indian educational YouTubers