Amazingly insightful easy, as usual, on coding horror about The Two Types of Programmers.
The 20% folks are what many would call "alpha" programmers — the leaders, trailblazers, trendsetters, the kind of folks that places like Google and Fog Creek software are obsessed with hiring. These folks were the first ones to install Linux at home in the 90’s; the people who write lisp compilers and learn Haskell on weekends "just for fun"; they actively participate in open source projects; they’re always aware of the latest, coolest new trends in programming and tools.
That’s why I like working at Forum One so much. Outside of work, I know my colleagues are off learning Erlang, writing their own MVC Framework just to learn what it takes, writing their own Wiki-like site, or building a search engine for restaurant menu igredients. Outside of work, I’ve learned, and brought back, Jquery, SVN, Solar-PHP, and dabbled with CakePHP & Django. It’s not just the programmers either, our sys-admins run their own websites/projects outside of work too.
Have I mentioned, we’re hiring?