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Russia's New Official Holiday — Programmer's Day
Glyn Moody writes "Russia's president, Dmitry Medvedev, has decreed a new holiday for his country: Programmer's Day. Appropriately enough, it will be celebrated on the 256th day of the year: September 13th (September 12th for a leap year). Do programmers deserve their own holiday ahead of other professions? Should the rest of the world follow suit?"
Because without programmers we'd still be hurling stones and whacking each other over the head with bone clubs.
...setting up a bot-net to send 20 phishing e-cards each to everyone _not_ a programmer.
Programming Celebrates You!
I would have had it on the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 8th, 16th, 32th, 64th, 128th and 256th day of the year, if I was to choose ;)
All programmers in Russia are permitted to work only a single 8 hour shift
today instead of the usual 16 hour shift !
Where are we going and why are we in a handbasket?
As much as programmers do often work hard and produce nifty things, why this rather than, say, surgeons' day, or police officers' day?
At least it doesn't interfere with Obama's Day of Service to our Government masters on September 11.
an ill wind that blows no good
I think, in what is fast becoming a fascist state of one part gangsterism and one part corporatism, the programmers they're talking about aren't the programmers you're thinking about.
ideopath @ play
Probably not ahead of scientists/mathematicians/enginneers. But still, pretty cool.
And can't but think it will be yet another forgotten day - secretary's day, siblings day, etc. All exist, all forgotten. Every day is proclaimed something and the novelty wore off or never caught on. Probably the only novel thing would be to have a "regular" day where nothing is officially remembered/celebrated/commerated/pissed_on/whatever.
In 20-30 years, we may have a holiday to honor the warriors of the internet battlefield. With cyber command coming online in the next few years and government sanctioned internet attacks coming out of china, the next great war might be fought with light cycles and crazy computer graphics that stand in for a command console. Think of it as a memorial day, but for those who fight to defend our infrastructure.
...oh.... never mind
You give holidays to people when you want them to keep doing what they're doing without getting paid more.
Do programmers deserve their own holiday ahead of other professions?
No.
Should the rest of the world follow suit?
No.
Not to mention mattress sale^w^wpresidents day.
People who do web sites are not programmers, unless you write it in C,FORTRAN, or assembler!
Be a real programmer.
http://www.sorehands.com/humor/real1.htm
Fight Spammers!
They should name the holiday Hello World
Exception Duck - may or may not contain chicken.
Well, I don't know about the rest of you, but the "worlds oldest profession" probably needs its own holiday too.
It is a holiday that has been a long time in coming.
Try to hack my 31337 firewall!
Hah! And it's my birthday too! So cool, celebrating both at once.
Programmers wont be so happy with their day changing in leap years (is almost a tradition to forget that they exists or not calculate that properly, in the other hand, you can say you grown as programmer when you start caring about that detail).
But if they want to take a date which number means everything, they could pick Feb 11th, with the advantage that dont change leap years (is not specific for programmers but a lot will get the reference).
Or go full binary with i.e. 10/01 (01/01 is already taken) or go full hexa picking the 13/10 (only meaningful in russia, probably), even if the year will kill the pattern (well next 2 ones will work still for binary)
And on programmer's day, programmers get to work 20 hours to meet a dealine!
Computers are useless. They can only give you answers.
-- Pablo Picasso
we should be able to get it onto every electronic calendar system in the world.
Nullius in verba
Why shouldn't we get a holiday? And let's not play favorites here, let's celebrate all the professions. In many countries, Teacher's Day is already celebrated, but let's do Fireman's Day and Chemist's Day and Comic Book Artist's Day. How about Food Service's Day and Assembly Plant Worker's Day? Anyone up for celebrating Stripper's Day (ironically celebrated at night)?
And speaking of irony, if everyday we celebrated a different profession and didn't have to work ever, should those professions actually be celebrated since you would never be working?
"Do programmers deserve their own holiday ahead of other professions? Should the rest of the world follow suit?"
Yes. Every conceivable profession should have its own holiday, on its own day, and each of these holidays should apply to all workers alike.
"Stevens! Where have you been? I'm still waiting on that documentation!"
"Oh? I'm just here to pick up my mail. Don't you know? Today is Auto Mechanics Day."
"I want that documentation by tomorrow!"
"Oh boy. I'm so sorry, but tomorrow is Plumber's Day!"
"In prison you just have to shut your eyes and take it. Here you have to shut your eyes and give it."
Well, I don't know about the rest of you, but the "worlds oldest profession" probably needs its own holiday too.
It is a holiday that has been a long time in coming.
Bakers? Why not! Without bakers, we wouldn't have bread which led to beer!
Let's hear it for Mr. Flibble for sticking up for the bakers!!
It's NOT me! It's the meds! I'm on 1000mg of Fukitol.
Programmer Day falls on my birthday. That means I'm gonna get gypped on presents.
In Russia holiday celebrates you!
Surely you don't think of it as of a pure official invention? The Day of Programmer is celebrated unofficially for several years now. It was invented by programmers. The Governmental decision is just the official recognition of the existing tradition.
It's probably because it's hard to know know how to celebrate it, and it's not quite as broadly applicable to the populace.
That's really what the International Talk Like A Pirate Day has going for it - everyone can participate, it's easy to celebrate!
(oh, and for the mute out there, I'm sure you can sign like a pirate, too. Just not in my general direction, ok?)
Do programmers deserve their own holiday ahead of other professions?
Yes.
Should the rest of the world follow suit?
Hell Yes.
If they where really thinking about programmers they would not compensate for leap years or day light savings time for that mater at least until version 3 of the holiday...
In Russia a "professional holiday" is NOT a real holiday and it is NOT a day off. It is a mere sign of appreciation for a certain professional activity. You might hear nice words about your buddies on TV and Radio and you have one more reason to have some drinks that day. Most of "important" professions in Russia have their professional days -- from teachers, doctors all way to police and steel-mill workers. It is no surprise whatsoever that IT workers (aka programmers) get their professional day too.
As usual, another blogger who doesn't know what he's talking about. There are a lot of "professional" holidays in Russia, most left from the Soviet times.
Off the top of my head, August 2nd is Airborne Troops Day, November 10th is Police Day, there are also Geologist Day, Miner Day, Border Guard Day, lots of others. Most aren't widely celebrated.
He picked a day that is tantalizingly close, but just out of reach. He is taunting us.
Medvedev to programmers: You will never get this! You will never get this!
Play Command HQ online
So you're saying I should remove "Frontpage" as a programming language from my resume?
We have 'Administrative Assistant's Day'. And probably $INSERT_COMMODITY_POSITION Day for everything else, too.
I highly doubt anyone will notice, or care. Except a few pasty skinned freakazoids who come out of their parents' basement once a year to awkwardly associate down at the pub before they get tossed out by a few of the local construction workers.
OK, maybe not quite so bad. So why not? But nobody will care. There will be no time off of work.
Programmer's Day celebrates you!
Well it is better then declaring September 11 as National Service Day.
It's a pinko commie plot to subsidize hookers and blackjack sectors. Well, maybe not blackjack.
It's clear what we have to do to meet the challenge.
...everyone know's that's programmers' Christmas!
I don't think programmers necessarily deserve a commemorative more than other professions, but I'd say that just about any profession deserves it more than the usual gang of politicians and such.
We can send them punch cards...
I was coming here to say the same thing, kudos sir!
The last real program to come out of Russia was Tetris, hardly worthy of a holiday.
Software industry is actually rather big in Russia. It is a decent place for outsource to. They don't offer quite as cheap prices as you could get in India but there are some benefits.
The (work) culture resembles western culture a lot more than the culture (and conditions) in India do. It is easier to negotiate with the local companies, it is easier to send your own workers to oversee the project, etc. when cultures are more similar.
In addition... While I (having visited Russia many times) would never deny that there is a massive amount of corruption (I've had to bribe the militia/police once though I've spent there only a few months in total. And no, I had done nothing wrong except that I drove a foreign, relatively new looking car. Giving a small bribe is a lot faster and easier for everyone than trying to argue with them at that point.)... It is not as bad with software companies.
The rich can bribe their ways to good degrees from universities but those people don't usually send their children to study software engineering. As a result, you can trust the degrees at least a little. If I was given no other information, I would hire a Russian coder with Bachelor's degree any day over a guy with similar degree from an university in India...
And I thought Russia couldn't get any more comical.
for the mute out there, I'm sure you can sign like a pirate, too.
Yeah, you just need to do it with a bit of a snarl, and have your parrot chime in with loud, often profane witticisms at opportune moments. :D
I celebrate it on the 255th day, you insensitive clod!
ARE THEY TRYING TO GIVE US A HEART ATTACK?!
This is total madness!
Of all the numbers, 256? That is like saying "here, have a holiday on INFINITY+1!"
God, i need to go see my psychiatrist.
We already have Programmer's X-Mas, which of course is on Oct 31.
But Mr. President.. we must not allow a holiday gap!
I am invincible! \o/
Looks like Religion is becoming more like a Religion in itself... people devote to it with Passion and Love..... and truly believe that it has changed the world for the good.....
Please mod this up, it's the only post in the thread with any shred of fact.
Of we deserve our own holiday!
Not only that, but the world should kiss our hairy asses and call it ice cream! And we deserve better pay,
like 7 figures for entry level, and sex, lot's of it. Free escorts for every nerd!
Mandatory that every girl and boy by the time they reach 18 must have sex with a nerd. Otherwise, no driver's license,
no voting privilege, and sit at the back of the bus!
Why not programmers?
"God performed surgery when he removed Adam's rib, so my profession is indeed the oldest" said the doctor. "But before that God performed feats of engineering to create the Earth from void and chaos, so my profession must be the oldest" countered the engineer. The programmer looked at them contemptuously and replied: "gee, where do you think void and chaos came from?"
September 5 is Teachers' Day in India. It is the birthday of Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, India's first Vice-President, second President, and a professor.
Karma fed to this user will be promptly burnt. Be warned; be wary.
No, they don't.
Computers count in zero and one.
And while you might use a programming language where array elements are counted from zero, it is not a rule for all programming languages.
"It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
This should be a holiday before Prog-Rammers get one. After all, we're left cleaning up the mess that these people make of our systems.
(Yeah yeah, I know - the endless recursive fork() was a typo, you need root to make your job easier, you need more CPU, the SAN sucks, etc. Give me your budget and I'll do something about all that, K? HTH, HAND.)
Yes, I'm trolling, but without us on the job the Prog-Rammers would be staring at a black or blue screen.
"Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm." - Anonymous
it is called Labor Day in the USA. All forms of labor get a day off, even programmers. Time to fire up the BBQ and grill some steaks, hotdogs, bratwurst, chicken, etc.
Why should only programmers get a day off, when everyone else deserves it as well?
People who make web sites are not programmers unless they wrote some kind of script or used a language like ASP.Net or PHP to create the HTML code. Most web sites can be made in HTML using web software that paints it like a picture. In the good old days we did HTML by hand using DOS edit.com, Notepad/Wordpad, or some other text editor.
Remember, Slashdot does not have a -1 disagree moderation, and no, troll, flamebait, and overrated are not substitutes.
They seem to make even more sense as progenitors of chaos. :P
I listen to both RIAA and non-RIAA stuff if I like the music, tangential business/politics nonwithstanding.
Actually, its relevant to the system you're on, such as some languages start counting at 1 while others start at 0. Seeing as there is no January 0, the 256th day is the proper day.
of course. Musta been a bureaucrat who thought up the day.
How about a moderation of -1 pedantic.
Funny, my location at 3com was 8.4.256 at Cisco it was 21.286
India should introduce an annual "have a shower" day.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
Why is the parent rated troll?
You're looking at this from the US perspective. In Russia, most of your list already exists:
Teachers Day: October 5
Medial Workers Day: Third Sunday of June
Social Workers Day: Second Sunday of June
Russian Science Day: February 8
Firemen's Day: April 30
In addition, Russia has commemorative days for public prosecutors, printed media, mass media, students, men, women, youth, mothers, tourists, elderly people, salesmen and service workers, police, geologists, cosmonauts, chemical industry workers, librarians, border guards, light industry workers, inventors, fishermen, postal workers, metallurgists, children's books, Slavic literature and culture, railroad workers, aviators, construction workers, miners, oil and gas workers, forestry workers, machinists and equipment workers, farmers, customs workers, automotive workers, security service workers, rescuers, power engineering specialists, and every concievable type of military workers.
Adding a Programmer's Day to this list is not particularly jarring or surprising.
-Graham
In Soviet Russia, computer programs you.
Why would you have it on the 256th day and not the 255th day? Since most of the time you count from zero, you don't really see 256 on an 8 bit counter.
HA! I just wasted some of your bandwidth with a frivolous sig!
I can't believe Mel is fading from slashdot consciousness so quickly.
The Story of Mel
Infuriate left and right
It could be on day whatever you want, and it will only take a few hours to complete.
Is Putin the new strstr?
from writing code for my employer so I can work on my own coding projects. (Sad, but true).
linquendum tondere
An "Outsource your programmer" day!
Is this a GNU/Free programmers day or a proprietary programmers day?
RS askin
Comment removed based on user account deletion
The russian one would probably have Engineer's degree instead; That's 37% more time spent educating, not that I can guarantee it to yield.
Holiday celebrates you!
meh.
After all, only programmers know how to count "properly"...0, 1, 2, ...
Where the degree of computer science is officially about to disappear.... aaahhh... life.
Dear
Within programmer month, a day is dedicated to developers for a certain language. Except, of course, Java developers.
... most of those professions and some others had a special day in a year to commemorate them. Of course these were not official state holidays (as in, everyone gets a day off, like Labor day here, which was May 1st in Russia and *was* a real holiday), but it provided good enough reasons for members of given profession to celebrate (mostly by extra heavy drinking :) ).
General public was not necessarily aware of other professions' "days", except for Border Guard Day, because, unlike most of all other armed forces members, former and current Board Guards were celebrating in extra rowdy fashion and it was better not to go to Moscow central park on that day, unless looking for a fight... :)
So, programmers just got a day to celebrate, but not a day off work, AFAIK...
Paul B.
After all, we already have administrative professionals' day. The barn doors have been blown off so violently, Michael Bay said he couldn't have done it better himself.
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
Gee, I always thought it was spelled kaos.