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Ask Slashdot: Dedicating Code?
First time accepted submitter The_Buse writes "This week I lost my grandmother and after returning to work (as a web developer) I find myself looking for some way to dedicate something to her memory. Unfortunately, I'm no author so I can't dedicate a book to her, and I can't carry a tune so penning a song in her honor is out of the question. What I can do is write one hell of a web app, and after nearly a year of development my (small) team and I are nearing the release date of our next product. My question is, have you ever dedicated a project/app/code in honor of someone? What's the best way to do it: comment blocks in the header, tongue-in-cheek file names, Easter eggs? Or is this a horrible idea all together?"
A simple "in loving memory of X" or "decicated to X" should do.
If you have an 'About...' item or a slash screen this seems like a good place to do it
Sorry to seem harsh, but this is probably not the best idea. If it's fun little web app, then you could pull it off. Anything that will deployed in a professional environment should not have something like this present. I think the only time I've ever seen this in practice was in the "Help -> About" section of a proprietary DB app used in automotive shops. I think it was addressed to the office pet (a golden lab) for the small office of coders that wrote the app.
Why do you feel compelled to draw attention to the loss of your grandmother? My condolences for this loss, but there are probably more appropriate ways to commemorate her memory. Pay for a spot in the obituary in the local paper, so that the people in closest proximity (and are likely the largest demographic which may have been affected by her actions) would know. It's always a shock for people to learn years after the fact that a local pillar of the community or old friend has passed away. It might do some good to make sure all the people that knew her are aware of this.
I hope this helps.
Whatever it is, it probably has an expected life span of a few years.
If you tie a tribute to your departed grandmother up in it, you're going to be even more bummed when your project's life ends.
My grandfather died slightly over a decade ago. Nothing I was working on then is still in use in any meaningful way. Both facts make me sad, but having them tied together would be worse.
Find the local park district and buy a little plaque on a park bench if you want something. Or a brick in the humane society sidewalk, or whatever people do wherever it is you are.
Or better yet, honor her memory by doing something with your life that would make her proud of you. You probably had a hard time explaining to her what you even do, why would you memorialize her with it?
The preferred solution is to not have a problem.
Planting a tree is easy to do and provides many years of enjoyment.
First, I'm sorry for you loss.
While it's nice to dedicate work to someone, you might want to rethink the method. Certainly don't put in easter eggs or change file names. That not only gets in the way of functionality, but will also prevent most people from seeing what you have done. (Plus it'll depress the people who do see it.) If you are going to dedicate your coding work to someone I recommend doing so in the release notes or release announcement. I've done this before, dedicating a single release to a family member or friend or sick person who could use some kind thoughts. But note the difference, it's not something in the product, it's not hidden, it's a clear, up front dedication which people can see without affecting your development or functionality.
Another thought: After losing someone there can be a strong urge to _do something_, anything. You want to mark that person's life and their meaning to you and that is great, it is. However, it's usually a bad idea to mix business and your personal life. Consider writing a poem, or donate money to charity in their name. These approaches will not only maintain a healthy barrier between your personal life and work, but it will probably mean more to people in a wider audience.
As usual with all other topics, check out what Debian has been doing for more than a decade.
Pretty much every release this century has some dedication to devs who died since the last release.
Sad, but true, that anytime you get a thousand or so people together in a group, even if they're mostly young and apparently healthy, you're gonna lose one every year or so.
"Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
Plant a tree in her honor. You can put a small plaque in front of it. Or as another poster suggested do something in the park like donate a bench. These tend to have an impact far beyond just the app itself, which is a pretty short timeframe.
What if you left the company or it got shut down? Or if you changed departments. If it's a larger project, someone else could take it over 5 years from now and decide to re-dedicate it to their grandmother...
However, the bench and the tree will still be standing.
Nobody gives a shit about your dead grandmother
This gets modded up? Is Slashdot really so anti-social? Dedications aren't for other people or the dead. They're for the grieving. If it makes him feel better then that's what it's for. I never understood why so many smart people can't figure this out. You don't have to feel the way other people feel, but if you think you're smart at all you should be able to at least recognize that most humans have emotions and a grieving process.
if the programming contractors did this one any of my projects, I'd have them fired and terminated immediately.
Fired AND terminated? I think you're a bit harsh of a boss if you think it is within your disciplinary power to take someone's life because of a disagreement with something in your software...
If you have an 'About...' item or a slash screen this seems like a good place to do it
A slash screen? Now I'm imagining a desktop application that starts up with a painstakingly-rendered airbrush-style image of Picard and Riker locked in a passionate kiss.
And now you probably are, too. I'm so sorry.
If your comment title says 'Re: Foo', I'm not likely to read it.