15:44 <kensanata> HUAGGHAAA! why is daytime programming boring and nighttime
programming interesting? is it just the money? (interesting work gets
done for free, therefore you can only earn money doing the boring stuff?)
15:44 <Lukhas> not only money i think
15:44 <Lukhas> but mood
15:44 <Lukhas> "ambiance"
15:45 <Lukhas> location (you code nightly at home, usually)
15:45 <kensanata> hm. good point.
15:45 <Lukhas> you don't code the same stuff during day and night :)
15:45 <kensanata> yes. but what is the difference in that? i can't name it.
15:45 <kensanata> eg. would wiki coding at work be boring as well?
15:46 <Lukhas> well, i think that it would bore you in a couple of hours
15:46 <kensanata> Lukhas: good point -- i never do more than a couple of hours at
home.
15:49 <Lukhas> ask your boss to code 2 hours, then leave for 2 hours, then come back
to code another couple of hours
15:53 <dust-puppy> "interesting stuff gets done for free" I never thought about that
15:54 <Lukhas> dust-puppy: but that's partly right
15:54 <lawrence> sometimes interesting stuff gets done for money
See MeatBall:HackingAtNight.
IMHO, it’s more about reward and choices than about hour, money or place.
When hacking for free you choose what you want to do and thus it is more likely that it will be something interesting to you and as the other developers that might be with you on a project have made the same choice they are likely to share the enthusiasm.
But more important is that with free software you often do something because someone asks for something and you hope to get, and often get some thanks for your work. (their is also self-satisfaction when you do something for you) I think if at work the developers had the opportunity to meet people that will use the software saying “It will be great if it does this” and then after some time to hear them saying: “what you’ve done is great, it really helps us”, the motivation will be very much improved. Internet helps in this case because it is so difficult for some people to say face to face: “I really like what you’ve done”, at work you usually have more negative feedbacks (bugs) than positive one. Becoming famous with free software is the extreme case.
That’s why I like the “client” aspect of the Xtreme programming. – PierreGaston