From: Lew on
MarkusSchaber wrote:
>> I won't dispute that money is a motivator, but it is not the most
>> efficient motivator. The more money you pay, the more you will attract
>> those developers which are purely after the money, and not the really
>> good ones. For the latter ones, a certain level on the paycheck is
>> enough to give attention to fun, excitement, atmosphere and such
>> factors.

Dirk Bruere at NeoPax wrote:
> I once joked with an employer that if he paid me twice as much I would
> only have to work half as long :-)

Given that nearly nobody gives a perfect working environment, or even close,
money is the primary distinguisher. As a contract worker, I've seen a few
dozen IT workplaces. The grass is never greener. Offer me twice as much
compensation as the other potential employer and my talents are yours to exploit.

It's not that money is the motivator. The question is leading and extremely
ill cast. I don't depend on anyone else for my motivation. Money is the
decider; it decides whether and where I work. It doesn't determine how.

To get meaningful answers, the survey would have to ask meaningful questions.

--
Lew
From: Thomas 'PointedEars' Lahn on
Malcolm McLean wrote:

> Strictly a "professional" is someone who is a member of a professional
> body which regulates itself and has the right to control entry to the
> profession. For instnace I can't simply buy scalpels and antiseptic
> and set myself up as a brain surgeon - I have to go throguh the
> British Medical Association before they'll let me chop people up. the
> same is true for lawyers, accountants, and some other more obscure
> niches.
>
> Most people aren't professionals, and the word has become misused to
> mean 'skilled workers with high standards'. Bascially employers want
> the advantages of professional status without conferring on their
> employees the control that is the natural concomitant.
>
> Computer programmers are rarely professionals in the true sense, but
> ususally professional in the bastardised sense of the term.

Your notion of "computer programmer" is a bit outdated to say the least.
This thread was about "software professionals".

You might also want to update other parts of your knowledge:

,-<http://www.britannica.com/bps/dictionary?query=professional&header_go=>
|
| Main Entry: ¹pro·fes·sion·al
| Pronunciation: \prə-ˈfesh-nəl, -ˈfe-shə-nəl\
| Function: adjective
| Date: 1606
|
| 1 a: of, relating to, or characteristic of a profession[1]
| b: engaged in one of the learned professions
| c (1): characterized by or conforming to the technical or ethical
| standards of a profession
| (2): exhibiting a courteous, conscientious, and generally
| businesslike manner in the workplace
|
| 2 a: participating for gain or livelihood in an activity or field of
| endeavor often engaged in by amateurs <a ∼ golfer>
| b: having a particular profession as a permanent career
| <a ∼ soldier>
| c: engaged in by persons receiving financial return <∼ football>
|
| 3: following a line of conduct as though it were a profession
| <a ∼ patriot>
| — pro·fess·ion·ally adverb
|
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------
|
| Main Entry: ²professional
| Function: noun
| Date: 1811
|
| one that is professional; especially: one that engages in a pursuit or
| activity professionally

[1]
| Main Entry:pro·fes·sion
| Pronunciation: \prə-ˈfe-shən\
| Function: noun
| Etymology: Middle English professioun, from Anglo-French profession,
| from Late Latin & Latin; Late Latin profession-, professio,
| from Latin, public declaration, from profitēri
| Date: 13th century
|
| 1: the act of taking the vows of a religious community
| 2: an act of openly declaring or publicly claiming a belief, faith,
| or opinion : protestation
| 3: an avowed religious faith
| 4 a: a calling requiring specialized knowledge and often long and
| intensive academic preparation
| b: a principal calling, vocation, or employmentc: the whole body
| of persons engaged in a calling

So much for "bastardised".


F'up2 poster

PointedEars
--
var bugRiddenCrashPronePieceOfJunk = (
navigator.userAgent.indexOf('MSIE 5') != -1
&& navigator.userAgent.indexOf('Mac') != -1
) // Plone, register_function.js:16
From: Thomas 'PointedEars' Lahn on
Malcolm McLean wrote:

> Strictly a "professional" is someone who is a member of a professional
> body which regulates itself and has the right to control entry to the
> profession. For instnace I can't simply buy scalpels and antiseptic
> and set myself up as a brain surgeon - I have to go throguh the
> British Medical Association before they'll let me chop people up. the
> same is true for lawyers, accountants, and some other more obscure
> niches.
>
> Most people aren't professionals, and the word has become misused to
> mean 'skilled workers with high standards'. Bascially employers want
> the advantages of professional status without conferring on their
> employees the control that is the natural concomitant.
>
> Computer programmers are rarely professionals in the true sense, but
> ususally professional in the bastardised sense of the term.

Your notion of "computer programmer" is a bit outdated to say the least.
This thread was about "software professionals".

You might also want to update other parts of your knowledge:

,-<http://www.britannica.com/bps/dictionary?query=professional&header_go=>
|
| Main Entry: ¹pro·fes·sion·al
| Pronunciation: \prə-ˈfesh-nəl, -ˈfe-shə-nəl\
| Function: adjective
| Date: 1606
|
| 1 a: of, relating to, or characteristic of a profession[1]
| b: engaged in one of the learned professions
| c (1): characterized by or conforming to the technical or ethical
| standards of a profession
| (2): exhibiting a courteous, conscientious, and generally
| businesslike manner in the workplace
|
| 2 a: participating for gain or livelihood in an activity or field of
| endeavor often engaged in by amateurs <a ∼ golfer>
| b: having a particular profession as a permanent career
| <a ∼ soldier>
| c: engaged in by persons receiving financial return <∼ football>
|
| 3: following a line of conduct as though it were a profession
| <a ∼ patriot>
| — pro·fess·ion·ally adverb
|
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------
|
| Main Entry: ²professional
| Function: noun
| Date: 1811
|
| one that is professional; especially: one that engages in a pursuit or
| activity professionally

[1]
| Main Entry:pro·fes·sion
| Pronunciation: \prə-ˈfe-shən\
| Function: noun
| Etymology: Middle English professioun, from Anglo-French profession,
| from Late Latin & Latin; Late Latin profession-, professio,
| from Latin, public declaration, from profitēri
| Date: 13th century
|
| 1: the act of taking the vows of a religious community
| 2: an act of openly declaring or publicly claiming a belief, faith,
| or opinion : protestation
| 3: an avowed religious faith
| 4 a: a calling requiring specialized knowledge and often long and
| intensive academic preparation
| b: a principal calling, vocation, or employment
| c: the whole body of persons engaged in a calling

So much for "bastardised".


F'up2 poster

PointedEars
--
var bugRiddenCrashPronePieceOfJunk = (
navigator.userAgent.indexOf('MSIE 5') != -1
&& navigator.userAgent.indexOf('Mac') != -1
) // Plone, register_function.js:16
From: Lew on
Ivan Marsh wrote:
> The 1950's [sic] were totally awesome.

Oh, yeah - the twin evils of McCarthyism and Communism. Racism. Sexism. The
Cold War. Superpowers playing chess with smaller countries. Wars everywhere.
Dictators. Massive stockpiling of nuclear and chemical weapons. Rapine of
the planet. The birth of AIDS. Hideous fashions.

Totally awesome.

--
Lew
From: Ivan Marsh on
Lew wrote:

> Ivan Marsh wrote:
>> The 1950's [sic] were totally awesome.
>
> Oh, yeah - the twin evils of McCarthyism and Communism. Racism. Sexism.
> The
> Cold War. Superpowers playing chess with smaller countries. Wars
> everywhere.
> Dictators. Massive stockpiling of nuclear and chemical weapons. Rapine
> of
> the planet. The birth of AIDS. Hideous fashions.
>
> Totally awesome.

The complete lack of sarcasm...


--
"All right, all right, if it will make you happy, I will overthrow society."
  - Philip J. Fry