Readme

This is my personal readme, reading this may explain my intentions, quirks, etc.

I will use notations like $color; in some programming languages that can be read as a variable. You could translate it as: insert a random value of that - here a color.

TL;DR:

• I try to do as little (tedious) work as possible and use tools for that
• I have been doing this IT stuff for years and I really enjoy passing on knowledge (read: issues that I have had, mistakes that I have made, fancy stuff)
• If you have an issue with something I did: please tell me. I'm happy each time someone invests the time to do so, and I can learn from that. Not the underlying issue, of course :/

What drives me

I enjoy making people's lives better and passing on what I know. I have been doing this IT stuff for > 15 years and made so many mistakes along the way. If I can help you not make the same mistakes I'd be happy to. If you are interested and I can show you things I built (tools, configuration, patterns, ...) I'd be delighted.

Boundaries

Say no to me.

I really like it when people tell me explicitly no, what behaviors they don't like, when they don't have time, ... In personal relationships or professional ones.

An explicit "no" is so much better than saying nothing or even saying yes even when you don't want to. A no is something explicit that I can work with. I don't have to think about it.

I won't think bad of you for your boundaries. I might ask you for details or circumstances to better understand them, if you'd rather not share that: tell me no.

Telling people no allows them to rely on that. It is very freeing when I can rely on people telling me when something is wrong. I can rely on you not doing something you do not want, which also empowers me to behave the same.

I have bent myself most of my life and not told people my boundaries. I don't want others to go through the same because they don't feel empowered to tell me no.

Discussions

I like discussions. They allow me to

• understand others
• see other perspectives on things
• get new ideas
• learn something new
• understand that I did forget something
• see my mistakes

People are from diverse backgrounds and have their own experiences, it would be quite wasteful to not include that.

I might continue to ask questions about some specific thing - that is not to make you uncomfortable. I did not understand something properly, or I am missing some pieces.

If you have some issue with my style of discussing things please tell me so (see Boundaries above).

Code review and PRs

I appreciate it if someone invests their time to look at something that I did. Even more, if they feel empowered to ask questions or point out issues they see.

The reasoning is the same as in Discussions above: different experiences allow for different perspectives, combined that improves quality and allows learning from each other.

If you think that my review is too detailed, did get something wrong, ...: please tell me. I try to do what I hope others do for me: have a critical view on my code.

I have no issue with you ignoring my remarks and getting someone else for the review. But please tell me, that I don't invest more time.

I made you feel bad

Sorry I made you feel that way.

Please tell me when this happened and how I behaved, that 1) I can learn from this 2) if possible I can explain the situation from my perspective. I can best recall situations short time after they occurred, if possible let's talk about what went wrong quickly after it happened.

I know that many people don't like talking about things like that in a 1:1 manner. If it makes you feel better please schedule a meeting with your or my manager (or whoever you like) as third person. I have no issue talking about my shortcomings in front of others, in meetings. As long as there is a proper culture around handling problems.

Behavior I know of that might come across in the wrong way:

• me being angry
  • this might be because I forgot to eat. I get hangry, sorry, please tell me directly. You can also call me out in a meeting with others present.
  • this might be because I am. I might think you behaved wrong, but I also know that this is influenced by what is happening around us, e.g.
    • management decisions
    • pressure
    • not having the time or energy to properly work on things
    • private stuff
  • so please tell me if you perceive me as angry, and we'll talk about it
• me being direct
  • I like to get to the point, If you'd like to talk about $other-thing let's do that after we handled the initial topic
• following through with my opinion
  • I think I mostly don't share my opinion on things I do not know. I try to support my opinion with arguments.
  • I think it is important to properly discuss topics. We have people from diverse backgrounds and their own experience.
• feel free to chat to me or create a PR to extend this list, I'd really love that :D. Seriously.

I don't think that I easily hold grudges. I might be annoyed by something, but that does not mean that it is against you as a person. It does not mean I'll even remember that the next time we have contact. If you have a feeling that I'm holding a grudge please tell me. I most certainly do not.

I do not like

• meetings without topics
• working alone, not having someone to talk to about my work
• being forced to work in a distracting environment (in an office)
• people not communicating their needs and then getting upset about them not being fulfilled

Q + A

Q: Do I think that you should use $EDITOR?
A: At some point in the past I advocated for whatever I was using at the time. I think you should be able to use your editor, that it is not in your way.

Q: Do I think that everyone should have such a readme?
A: That would be nice, being able to understand each other is quite the benefit.

Q: Do I think my work is perfect?
A: No. I can't even remember how stuff behaves or what I thought when I wrote something a week ago. If I then look at it there is room for improvement in all sorts of ways.

Q: Do I think you should use the tools that I use?
A: No. Use what empowers you. I like seeing other peoples' workflows and tooling and getting inspiration from that, perhaps you do too.