💾 Archived View for gmi.noulin.net › mobileNews › 3175.gmi captured on 2021-12-03 at 14:04:38. Gemini links have been rewritten to link to archived content
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
On June 24, 2011, Jon decided to leave Opera Software.
Dear All,
It is with a heavy heart that I send this message. Next week will be my last at
Opera. It has become clear that The Board, Management and I do not share the
same values and we do not have the same opinions on how to keep evolving Opera.
As a result I have come to an agreement with the Board to end my time at Opera.
I feel the Board and Management is more quarterly focused than me. I have
always worked to build the company for the future. I believe the foundation we
have is very solid to build further upon.
I do believe strongly in Opera as a company, and in all of you working here.
Our products actually make a difference for a lot of people in the world, and I
wish you all the best of luck moving forward. I will be following the company
closely and rooting for you all.
Yours truly, Jon.
No surprises here (Score:5, Insightful)
Business guys want short-term profit at all costs. Technical guys want
long-term technical excellence which is better in the long run but not as
profitable in the short run. Because the business guys have the dough, they win
in a for-profit business.
That (in a nutshell) is why for-profit business cannot be the driver of
excellence in software.
Yes and No. I've beaten my head against developers who see their code as sacred
and are unwilling to put it in the hands of users.
That obsession with perfection can often prevent "good enough" software from
being put to good use "before it's ready". And then I often find that the
developers are working in too much isolation and lose the incredibly valuable
feedback from being used 'in the wild'.