I didn't post this because of a vendetta. I thought he had some good points about A-listers and it was interesting for HNers.

Clearly, I don't agree with his self-assessment as an A-lister, but the article has some interesting points. But that's partly because my evaluation of him is that he's not, and partly because I don't think self-assessment really counts.

This is the frustrating thing with ESR: occasionally he has good points.

The problem is that they are often buried in narcissism, just like this essay, which is ironically claiming that he is not afflicted by such.

Basically it's the same thing that rubs me the wrong way with Timothy Ferriss -- sometimes there's useful stuff in there. His version, however, seems more playfully mischievous; he seems to be in on the joke.

After yesterdays post on that silly bit of python code (if it worked, that was good enough for me), and this piece today (which makes ESR look pretty weird) I hope you'll forgive me if I thought that you were focusing on him way too much.

I've looked at a whole bunch of code you wrote and without exception it is exemplary, that's the way to do it, lead by example, not by going after an individual, no matter how silly they are.

By singling out this one person I'm thinking that he got under your skin with his stupid remarks and this (hoisting him by his own petard) is your way of paying him back.

As far as I'm concerned it doesn't matter one bit what the guy wrote or how crappy his software is, there is no need for you to show him, the code speaks for you.

The piece indeed has some good points about A-listers, but for the most part it comes across to me as being written by someone who needs help of some sort.

Normally, I wouldn't post things from ESR's blog and that's because I don't read it. I don't read it because it's mostly non-technical (he usually covers political or philosophical topics that don't interest me).

Because the ForgePlucker got posted to HN I learned of it and hence the last couple of days interactions. The resulted in me reading his blog a bit and hence this posting.

I've looked at a whole bunch of code you wrote and without exception it is exemplary, that's the way to do it, lead by example, not by going after an individual, no matter how silly they are.

You haven't looked hard enough :-) I'm sure there's quite a bit of stuff I'd be ashamed of today.

> You haven't looked hard enough :-) I'm sure there's quite a bit of stuff I'd be ashamed of today.

Self-awareness is key to improving. If you're not ashamed of at least a fraction of your code, you're deluded.

Invariably the most talented people are those painfully aware of their own flaws and shortcomings.

Do the best you can at the time you do the work and there is no reason to be ashamed later. I have done lots of things I would do differently today, but the only alternative is to not keep learning.

It's my experience that most decent programmers, and even some crummy ones, think they are in the top 1%. It's a lot like poker - everyone thinks they're way above average at it.

I saw a study a few months ago on that, I think it was linked on Overcoming Bias,but I'm not sure. Apparently, most people rate themselves in the 3rd quartile; everyone under average thinks they are somewhat above, and people in the upper quartile generally over-estimate the average, thinking most are more like themselves, so only those who are actually in the third percentile are (accidentally) accurate in their self-assessments.

It's a lot like everything. I haven't found any skill or talent where that isn't true.

Keeping this in mind is the first step towards a reasonable self-assessment.

It's mildly amusing (and telling) that posting a link to someone's writing could be seen as expressing a vendetta against the writer. :)

You missed yesterdays episode and the preceding salvos apparently.

You're correct, I did. I went back and caught up, but I think my point still stands.

Why are you sticking up for ESR? He's elected to be a public figure. He richly deserves all the critiques he can get. What about him makes you --- a demonstrably smart person --- feel the need to defend him?

I like the idea that merely posting this essay is an act of ESR-bashing. I agree, but think it's warranted.

I say outcode him.

I blew him up last time (a couple years ago). I also supported Leach's efforts (ELER, web-comic).

The 'E' in esr stands for Ego.

http://geekz.co.uk/esrfacts/fact/16

I checked out that esrfacts hoping it would be entertaining. That has got to be one of the lamest sites that I have ever seen, it is so lame that it has me actually using the term for the first time ever.