[bdcravens]

Most of us would probably stop programming

No - I presume most on here are hackers and not only in it for success. The difference is that I'd stop coding for others, and do it for myself, pursuing the challenges that excited me, independent of the income they could generate. Which is what I think Notch is doing - he doesn't owe anyone anything.

[droopyEyelids]

What about the difference between 'programming' and 'hacking'?

No doubt everyone would keep hacking if they had unlimited money, after all, it's fun.

But programming? Tediously banging away on edge cases so a random consumer doesn't get frustrated? Polishing bullshit after the fun work is done so you have a 'product'? Maybe 3% of people enjoy the sheer grunt work involved with programming. Very few people would keep that up if they had unlimited money.

Much more likely, they'd do what we see notch doing right now. jump from interesting project to interesting project, discarding as they go along.

[mcdougle]

That's what I was going to say! I'm sure for most of us, programming is FUN when you're doing it for the enjoyment, the puzzle-solving aspect, and working on a project you love, isn't it?

Once I'm wealthy and financially free, I might take some time off of work initially, but eventually I expect I'll do fewer of others' projects and more of the things bouncing around my head right now. I just love working on this kinda stuff!

That was the feeling I got from this article -- since Notch doesn't need the money, he works on something that interests him until it doesn't anymore, regardless of whether it's the best money-making option, don't you think?

I doubt my personality would let me just shelf a project when I'm in the middle of it, though... once I start something I can't help but see it through to completion!

[jiggy2011]

Given access to massive funds though, you might find that your interest in programming now has to compete with ideas like traveling the world, building rockets, flying aircraft or solving malaria.

[reflectiv]

I think we might be seeing a bit of 80/20 rule playing here...as the old saying goes, the first 80% of the project takes 20% of the time, and the remaining 20% is the most arduous.

If I had piles of cash in the bank, I might be less inclined to see something through once I hit that 20%...from what I hear this seems to be how Notch writes code in general, and now that he is very wealthy...well....

[mcdougle]

That makes a lot of sense. Once you get to a certain point where the core of the functionality is built and the rest seems easy and/or tedious, it might be tempting to hand that part off to someone more interested/with more time/etc. wouldn't it?