[mikeleeorg]

Most good programmers I know have some measure of Larry Wall's three great virtues: laziness, impatience, and hubris.[1]

Hubris is defined by Larry as:

"Excessive pride, the sort of thing Zeus zaps you for. Also the quality that makes you write (and maintain) programs that other people won’t want to say bad things about. Hence, the third great virtue of a programmer."

When your code is open source, anyone can see it. A prideful programmer isn't going to want to hear others badmouthing his/her code. Thus, the hubris this open source programmer feels will compel him/her to write code that is easy to understand and easy to maintain.

At least, hopefully :-)

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Wall#Virtues_of_a_program...

[sethrq]

In an ideal world the tools programmers use would enable them to write easily understandable/maintainable code; no matter what their virtues are. The best tools should take these traits into account.

[eru]

> In an ideal world the tools programmers use would enable them to write easily understandable/maintainable code;

Yes. And you chose the right word "enable". Your tools can make it easier to write good code, but you still have to put in the effort.

[swah]

I suppose the same effect would happen in a organization, perhaps even more because the ones reviewing have power over you...