Eric Sink Quotes

United States, Author
1901

Eric Sink is a software developer and writer. He is the author of Eric Sink on the Business of Software , a collection of essays from his blog and the "Business of Software" column for the Microsoft Developer Network. He founded SourceGear, which sells Vault source control software for Windows and started the AbiWord project. Before that, he led the browser team at Spyglass. His article "Exploring Micro-ISVs" is credited with introducing the term micro-ISV. He is also known for his spoof on a Microsoft ad campaign featuring "software legends", which is embodied in the site not a legend.

Also known as Programmer

RCS was the first version control tool I used. When I was at Spyglass, we had a team of 50 or so developers across three platforms using RCS on a shared code base. Since RCS never had support for networking, people on Windows and Mac had to log in to the Sun workstation that hosted RCS, FTP their code changes up there, and then check them in from the Unix shell. It was an interesting experience just trying to get all that to work.

Eric Sink
- Experience
- Team
- Control
Branching is easy. Merging is hard.

Eric Sink
- Hard
- Merging

When I ask candidates to tell me about their weaknesses, I am hoping for a wise, honest, and self-confident answer. When I hear a candidate rationally admit a weakness, I am impressed. When I hear a candidate duck the question with language straight out of a book, I start thinking about the next candidate.

Eric Sink
I believe strongly that a group's potential is eventually limited by the strength of its leadership. I'm an outsider, but it still looks to me like the leadership in the Java w orld is Fouled Up Beyond ALL Recognition. Java ISVs don't know whether to listen to Mom or Dad. Everybody knows IBM should just buy Sun and clean up the mess. When are they going to do it?

Eric Sink
If Sun were to hand the management of Java over to a committee of monkeys, would it be more successful?

Eric Sink
Your chances of winning the Powerball lottery are far better than finding a hash collision. After all, lotteries often have actual winners. The probability of a hash collision is more like a lottery that has been running since prehistoric times and has never had a winner and will probably not have a winner for billions of years.

Eric Sink
- Running
- Winning
- Chances
When I evaluate a candidate, one of the most important criteria is what I call “the first derivative.” Is this person learning? Is this candidate moving forward, or have they stagnated.

Eric Sink