“Stealth Programmers” - A New Species ?

Yes! ... while you sleep, there are those who lurk in the dark. Stay in the shadows and make you applications you can only imagine at best. This is a new breed of programmers here in Pakistan. Finally the plague has formed it's roots here. Yes people, STEALTH has come into the Programmer here now. Let me explain how I got to realize this.

So here I was wondering why the hell I don't have a portfolio up even after 2 years ? and suddenly it struck me three times, almost like three speedy pats hitting my back simultaneously, the words "and you'll be like a *stealth* programmer for us". Yes, I recall clearly about 3 clients of mine saying this to me. So what is a "stealth programmer" anyways ? Simple observation reveals that people who wear masks of different companies (some big names like Apple Inc.) are constantly looking for resources. Reliable and efficient resources. People who not only work just so that they earn their kitchen money, but also because they are passionate about what they do. These people are hired by these companies with a promise (technically known as NDAs : non-disclosure-agreements) that they must not reveal their identity and they must not do anything with the code outside their boundaries, may them be virtual or physical, and code them their ideas.

All this commotion about design patterns followed by great frameworks to address them, in most cases, were designed and developed by the "stealth" breed. Authors of languages like Python (Guido Van Rossum) and Ruby (Yukihiro Matsimuto) were stealth programmers. Heck, Linus Torvald had a "stealth" status when developing the Linux kernel. It was this species that lay the foundations of the "open source" community.

Friends, the Stealth virus has officially hit Pakistan. Me, my friends, and a number of "senior" people I know are living examples. And this virus continues to claim people here, as the awareness grows. And I don't think that I'm referring to "free lancers" here. It's a big term, a super class that encompasses "stealth" programmers too.

And it's about time that this "stealth" community should be consolidated in one place. Because most of these people are best of the best in their fields and passionate therefore well motivated. Several companies in the U.S. made use of this breed in the 80s including Apple Inc. and these companies really owe their success to these people indeed. Entrepenuers here can take a hint :D

8 Responses to ““Stealth Programmers” - A New Species ?”

  1. Osama A.  on December 19th, 2008

    Another cool post - can I cross-post to gnw?

  2. Tehseen Baweja  on December 19th, 2008

    Sohaib,
    When, I ask WHEN, would such talented programmers/developers in Pakistan come together and do something serious. I know so many people from Pakistan who are really really good, but sites like oDesk have chained them to their eBosses.

  3. admin  on December 20th, 2008

    @Tehseen, the answer is simple. We do have excellent programmers out there, but what we don’t have are skills in management or particularly “project management”. But don’t point fingers just yet. We are living to witness the disastrous effects of the “brain drain” here. The “seth” culture has fueled a lot to drive off the talent and enforce them to become “eSlaves”. So you see, they rather be eSlaves rather than being actual slaves. Can you imagine that nowadays the bank employees still spend till 8 to 9:00 p.m. at office ?
    Anyhow, the above things can easily sway me off track. So to free the eSlaves:

    1. You’ve got to pay them close to if not equal to what they earn from oDesk
    2. You’ve got to really give them a “professional” environment in which they would KNOW that they are LEARNING and their talent is NOT going to waste. This is because the conditions in most of our software houses is pathetic! - only a few good apples out there.
    3. We need to build a sense of “Sports” in which these best of the best can take part in. Try the analogy of “gaming” teams here, all those teams having a stand-off in Quake. This will really help a lot as gaming competitions have produced even more excellent players.

    phew ! … I think I have burnt out as far as this comment goes for now. I’ll add another comment as I structure more information. Please let me know about your thoughts in the meanwhile.

  4. Mudassar Ijaz  on December 22nd, 2008

    Hi,

    nice post , important issues raised Shoaib,

    I added my thougths here

    http://www.mudassarijaz.com/?p=255

    Regards

  5. Tehseen  on January 14th, 2009

    Sohaib,

    I agree with #2 completely but not too sure about number 1. Why don’t they understand they if the combine a good idea with a good execution, they’ll get 100 times more than what they get from oDesk.

    Anyways…good stuff…

    if you ever gonna get in touch and chat more abt it..i am tehseen DOT baweja AT Gmail

  6. Pakistan Basic Accounting Software BizCore-i  on September 16th, 2009

    Our Developer’s can Change the World but our Politics….. Ohh Ma God


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