[chrsw]

It doesn't necessarily have to be leadership. It could be communication, documentation, culture, any number of things. Yes, we are engineers and we work on technical challenges. But nothing is done in isolation, everything is collaboration. The better engineers are the ones that realize this sooner. Even if one person writes amazing code, someone else has to test it, someone has to ship it, someone has to maintain it. These are all engineering problems.

[labrador]

Yes, we all know these things. You're giving me boilerplate management speak. When asked about 10x engineers I think of someone like Fabrice Bellard https://bellard.org/

[chrsw]

Fabrice Bellard is a great programmer. For me, 10x is about delivering real value. not just showing off how clever you are. I wish we all knew this but based on my experience that is not the case.

[labrador]

tbh I think you're comment is disrespectul to Fabrice Bellard. You're implying the man who wrote FFmpeg is a flashy showoff who doesn't deliver real value. That's like saying Mozart was nothing but a score scribbler without the people who made the instruments, sewed the costumes and built the stage

Edit: I became curious about why you didn't see what I was saying. Were you trolling me? I asked Claude Opus to write me a python program with a GUI using wxWidgets, which I've never done before, to extract a list of links and give it to Claude for analysis. I extracted about 5 pages of your comments and your submissions. It only took 15 minutes from idea to finish! That amazes me. You weren't trolling, you just don't agree. I'm retired but if I was still programming I would love this.

Me: how would you characterize this person based on their comment and posting history?

Claude: Based on chrsw's comment and submission history on Hacker News, they seem to be a technically-minded individual with wide-ranging interests spanning computer science, electrical engineering, and technology topics. Some key observations:

Strong interest in low-level hardware and software, including embedded systems, FPGAs, processors, bootloaders, etc. Many of their submissions relate to these topics.

Follows developments in AI, deep learning, and neural networks. Has commented on AI "consciousness", the limitations of large language models, AI replacing jobs, etc.

Knowledgeable about various operating systems like Unix, Plan9, Haiku, FreeRTOS. Interested in OS concepts like booting.

Pragmatic, rational thinker. Their comments are often balanced, seeing multiple sides of issues. Not afraid to respectfully disagree with others.

Long-time Hacker News user (commenting since 2014) who engages in substantive technical discussions. Asks good questions.

Curious about a wide range of computing topics, from encryption to C++ programming to visual studio code. Occasionally comments on economic and social issues like housing affordability, layoffs, climate change - but usually through a fact-based rational lens.

Overall, chrsw comes across as an experienced, pragmatic engineer and technologist with deep interests across the hardware/software stack. They are an active and thoughtful contributor to intellectual discussions on Hacker News.

[chrsw]

I don't think I was being disrespectful to anyone. I think Fabrice Bellard has done amazing work. I've been aware of him for years. I can only dream of being as prolific as he is.

My comments about 10x engineers have nothing to do with Fabrice Bellard. My comments are based on observations from what I've seen building systems as a student, individual contributor and technical leader across various organizations.

Between the two of us, I believe many people would agree with you about what a 10x should engineer do, how they should work and how they integrate to team dynamics.

I am impressed by your use of an LLM to gain better insight into who you were talking to.

[labrador]

Thank you for your thoughful response. Maybe I didn't say it clearly, but sometimes I like to acknowledge that we have geniuses in the programming field too, like a Ballard or a Jon Carmac. I enjoyed "Coders at Work: Reflections on the Craft of Programming" by Peter Seibel, published in 2009. I'm going to read it again.

I'm impressed by Claude Opus! I haven't programmed much since I retired so this was my first test. For fun I threw in that I wanted to use wxWidgets for a GUI interface, which it flawlessly did. It left out something I wanted, so I told it to do it again but this time with a button to clear the list box, also done perfectly. If I was still programming I'd be concered about my future prospects as a programmer! I'd probably move to designing programs, more of an architech role, although I'm sure AI will make in roads there too.