-2000 Lines of code (2004)

This is one of those stories that I am sure has happened, but when it comes to "and then they never asked him again le XD face" it's clearly just made up.

management could have decided on a process change. Simple as that.

I get the sentiment though, "He blew management's mind so much they made an exception for him".

But, Folklore.org is a bit less onanistic than ESR's jargon file.

I've pulled stunts like this that makes management realize its easier to make an exception than to fight it

Bill Atkinson recently died and there’s a great HN discussion about him. He had a good relationship with Steve Jobs; it’s reasonable to assume it’s true that he got left alone, especially if Andy Hertzfeld is the person making the assertion.

We had free soft drinks in the fridges at one place I worked. Cost-cutting measures were coming and I sent an email to all of engineering (including the VP) asking who wanted to join me in a shopping trip at 10AM to restock the fridge. In the email, I estimated that it would take between 60 and 90 minutes. Two carfuls of engineers left at 10AM sharp and returned a little before noon and restocked the fridges.

That was the first and last time we had to do it, as the soft drinks returned the following week.

It was Bill fucking Atkinson. Not a disposable random contractor you hire by the dozen when you need to build more CRUD APIs.

At that time at Apple, even as an IC, Bill had lines of communication to Steve and was extremely valued. There's absolutely no doubt he could get "middle manager shenanigans" gone simply by not complying or "maliciously complying". Hell, I've seen ICs far less valuable, or even close to negative value get away with stunts far worse than these, succeed and keep their jobs. Out of all the stories in Folklore.org, this is the one you have an issue with?!

Most people know who Bill Atkinson on this forum. The story premise that he wrote negative code isn't my gripe, I am sure it happened.

The outcome where all of a sudden leadership just shit its pants and doesn't communicate at all and never followed up... It's like writing "and then everyone clapped" for programmers.

Man you must have only worked with really good management. "Management realised the stupid policy change they announced with great fanfare was stupid, stopped doing it, and never mentioned it again" is something I've seen several times in my career.

It just occurred to me that really good management is like a fruit at the optimum of its ripeness - it stays that way only for a while so enjoy it while it lasts otherwise it will rot and stink.

1. The site is called folklore.org. You’re sort of saying the site is true to its name.

2. It’s a direct recollection from someone who was there, not an unnamed “my cousin’s best friend” or literal folklore that is passed down by oral tradition. Andy knew Bill and was there. There is no clear motivation to tell a fictional story when there were so many real ones.

3. The specifics line up very well with what we know about Bill Atkinson and some his wizardry needed to make the Mac work.

Given this, it’s much easier to assume that your assertion is what is made up.

> The outcome where all of a sudden leadership just shit its pants and doesn't communicate at all and never followed up...

This is not only a possible outcome, it is a common one. When leadership realizes it was a mistake to instill one of these types of "productivity motivators", it is easier to disappear it and never (officially) speak of it again.

I imagine management realized it was far cheaper to buy some soda than it was to lose 2 hours of work from multiple engineers

See also: removing coffee machines.

Too many forget that it's one of the few legal ways to supply your employees with performance enhancing drugs.

Air quality (reduced CO2 or increased O2) is a proven performance enhancer and also legal but almost always neglected. Not sure why tho!

That was exactly the point of the protest that was couched as totally-not-a-protest.

(I skipped clarifying in the GP post that they took the soft drinks out of the fridge and emailed the new policy, rather than merely being a little slow in restocking.)