Exit Condition

For my respect, you may be either unintelligent or unkind, but not both.

In fact, there’s an undeniable allure to the brazen arrogance of the unapologetic elite. I think that’s why NBC’s House is still on the air.

But over the past couple years, I’ve been a difficult co-worker to suffer. Unfortunately for me, life isn’t a TV show and I’m not Hugh Laurie. Being an ass doesn’t make you correct.

Life at JBoss has been therefore humbling. Which is good, because my ego was writing checks my body couldn’t cash. And since this is a Meritocracy, every developer I’ve met is The Shit. Which can make the act of contribution a little intimidating.

So as part of this reformation of character, I’m appointing myself to the role of “Community Outreach Ambassador”. Wanna be a part of something distributed the world over? Wanna give back to the software that powers your business? And most importantly, wanna do my homework?

This all ties into the proactive stance I’m taking to remain true to my application-based roots. My job as a server developer is to handle application concerns in a generic, standardized manner. But hell, if I stop developing apps I’m going to pretty quickly lose touch with my ability to identify the major pain points. That’s what’s in it for me.

And why should you donate your valuable time without pay? Great question with better answers:

• You want a bug fixed before we’re able to schedule it in
• You want to discuss a new feature or idea, and get it upstream and supported
• You want to better understand the black box upon which your application is built
• You want to compile your own binaries between official releases

It gets better. By focusing inward towards the community, the software itself becomes a byproduct of demand. This leads you, the developer, to choose JBoss AS as your JEE implementation. Your management in turn purchases support, and now you’ve got a supported platform loaded with features proven relevant in the field. To boot, you’re equipped with the tools necessary to debug problems on your own. How easy is your job now?

I therefore offer an initial push to anyone with more than a fleeting desire to take part in EJB3 Development. If you swim, you swim.

All told, the JBoss ecosystem will benefit from an influx of external contributors, and everyone reaps the rewards.

Especially me, who will be delegating my work to you, while on paid holiday.

S,
ALR