[Podcast] Episode #26: Q and A with Jason and David (May 2011)

Matt Linderman wrote this on May 17 2011 8 comments

Time: 37:24 | 5/16/2011 | Download MP3

Summary
Jason and David answer questions posted by readers at Signal vs. Noise. How did David became a partner at 37signals? What happened with the affiliate program? What is David’s take on methodologies like Agile or Waterfall? How do you move beyond a lack of motivation? Will David ever “retire” from Rails development? How did Jason advise Groupon? How do they prepare for public speaking? Do they play the stock market? How do they deliver criticism/praise? What advice do they have for a young programmer? When was the first time they realized they wanted to do their own thing?

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Matt Linderman wrote this on May 17 2011 There are 8 comments.

Mo

on 17 May 11

David,

i have a question about the reliability of the Rails development process. I’m concerned with the incompatibilities each new version brings to the apps people have. Isn’t it a waste of time, money and talent to rewrite half a app to match a new Rails version instead of investing this time (thus money) to work on features and and a better user experience? Do I have now to go to .NET or some other sh**t, to get to use my code for years and not only, if the next “merb guy” thinks it is good to kill half my code and half the gems i use. because he like per example :remote => true better than form_for_remote?

mriegger

on 17 May 11

Nice to hear the 37 podcast again.

DHH

on 17 May 11

Mo, you don’t have to upgrade. You can keep using the same version of Rails that you started your app on. For years. We have a few apps that we didn’t upgrade for years.

Mo

on 18 May 11

David,

thanks for the quick answer. But will using an old rails version not be a security risk? Are there still updates coming after 2.3.11 if there surface security problems one day?

It would be great, if you could do a Podcast or Blog Post about how your Strategy for your Apps looks like about the new Rails version. After all, Basecamp is probably one of the biggest Rails Apps out there and the “mother” of Rails. Perhaps also other people would be interested in the business strategy side of Rails.

Keep on the good work!

Greets vom Germany

Michael

on 18 May 11

DHH: ”...shit.”

pause

ML: ”...and that about wraps it up…”

Matt

on 18 May 11

Thanks guys, enjoyed that. Not related but I was thinking the other day about how you guys get customers. An example:

My friend emailed me a podcast you did last year. I started checking the blog occasionally. I bought rework a little later on and got a lot from it. I lent rework to my brother in law. My brother in laws friend was looking for project management software so my brother in law signed him up. 37 signals got a new customer.