[kgp7]

My argument is not that 'I found interview easy and hence not so bad'. My argument is that in Lyfts case engineering hasnt been the problem with why its business is failing.

> Then the question becomes what exactly are you paying top dollar to these engineers for?

Again Engineering is one vector in a company's success but not the only one. It might well make sense for Lyft to pay well for good engineering talent there. Maybe not paying well might have doom'd them much faster.

Your take on OSS is also a naive one . OSS helps in off boarding long term maintenance costs (if the project becomes popular enough) and staves off bit rot. It helps attract talent , creates industry standards etc. Engineering is feature multiplier and for some companies it does make sense to OSS.

[ramraj07]

I’m not against OSS, just frivolous ones funded by companies who should have no business doing that stuff. It’s not news that orgs like Uber were indulging the development and release of such projects so they can keep the fairly jobless highly paid engineers happy. There’s no way you can make an argument that the development and maintenance of airflow had any real bottom line effect on their ability to make a home rental market place. The true technology companies don’t and never did release oss solutions that were not fundamental things they could do well and needed to do well. I’m again happy (maybe I’m not) that airflow exists thanks to airbnbs indulgence, but as a bottom line for the company it doesn’t make sense. Especially in the current environment where you now are suddenly forced to show real value for your spend on engjneeeing.

[braza]

I am sad that Lyft isn’t going to make it through, not only cause of the engineers but for their contributions for OSS and blogposts. I got some of their work as inspiration for some stuff. However, I acknowledge that some part of this can be a product of a ZIRP period.

[hitekker]

Your views were commonplace 3 years ago. Now, the idea of paying for free OSS development with expensive engineer time, at an unprofitable company, in the middle of a tech-recession, is indefensible.

I would be careful not to express luxurious views in future interviews. Saying that Lyft engineering wasn't swollen and engaged in silly side-projects flies in the face of the layoffs announced in the article we're talking about.

An interviewee expressing those views would be seen as out-of-touch, if not stupid.