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Admin
i know the correct content of the working script:
do some incredible stuff > /dev/null 2>&1 #suprress any errors echo "successfully finished"
see, script is working without errors
Admin
He should've modified the script so that it said "Failed" upon completion.
Admin
The TWTF is that Jeremy didn't crack open Ross's script prior to testing at the customers site. Instead he just blindly assumed that what Ross had given him was correct.
Admin
TRWTF is Scriptzilla!
Nice story, though.
Admin
On Error Resume Next Do Post Comment Frist Until Exist Comment Frist
Admin
The real WTF here is the code running through the godzilla image in the layout...
Admin
Long Story short:
Boss provides script. Script barely works. Jeremy tells Boss script has issues. Boss tells Jeremy not to rewrite from scratch but to modify existing script. Jeremy rewrites from scratch. Jeremy's than short-circuits boss' script with rewrite.
This is taking as much licence out of "modify" as is humanly possible.
Let's just hope for Jeremy that his rewrite doesn't break anything. "You acted against my direct order" can easily mean Jeremy is forced to look for other employment opportunities.
Something he should perhaps do anyway, but still.
Admin
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This comment would be longer but one of my interns rewrote it for conciseness.
Success.
Admin
Making intermittent script work does his boss a disservice. Allowing others to fail gives them valuable experience. From a risk management stand point changing a script against a direct order increases his liability.
Admin
If the script was as broken as it sounds, I'm not sure the difference between modifying and re writing...
Admin
Programmers of Ross' caliber are above the need for comments.
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Admin
You are assuming the boss is allowed to fail...and are assuming the end customers are allowed to have problems...
Admin
Idiot 1: It says "successfully finished" so it works. Idiot 2: Dude, it compiles so it has to work.
I'm betting Idiot 1 and Idiot 2 are the same person.
Admin
"layouting". yeah, that's the ticket.
http://postimg.org/image/5ci738zqh/
this is responsive design of the WTF variety.
Admin
Oddly, my boss never take's my code's word for it.
Admin
If I had to choose, I would definitely prefer to be fired for doing a good job, than for failing to fix somebody else's bad job and getting blamed for it. At least that way, in the meantime, I'm not inflicting my own pain on all my clients as well.
Admin
The TL;DR:
"A man wrote a crappy script. Another man fixed the script and ran it successfully. The end."
Admin
"A man wrote a crappy script. Brown-nose pretended to fix the script but instead bypassed it and ran his own version himself, believing his crap was better. The end."
Admin
Reminds me of a "security through obscurity" hack I did long long ago (in an operating system far away...).
The setting: a multi-user Unix system.
I had a text file I wanted to keep safe from prying eyes, so I gave it the name "calc_resids.o" and threw 50 lines of some random object file binary code at the top and bottom of my file. That way, even if some snoop decided to peek at what was obviously :-) a compiled hunk of code, running 'head' or 'tail' wouldn't give the game away.
I'm sure nobody noticed or cared.
Admin
Happens all the time. When I was going to college, the school could get funding for renovations but not for building new buildings. So they would "renovate" an old one by knocking down all but one wall, and building a new building around it.
Admin
Frist!
See, it says frist! It wouldn't have done that it if wasn't frist!
Admin
This is when you insist that your oh-so-confident boss put in writing that you shall use his script, and that he is the sole author.
Admin
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ok, similar WTF.
We had a schema change that required data to be migrated, so wrote a script for it. Customers take upgrades on their own schedule, so it falls on our support team to run the migration script ahead of each customer's upgrade. After one such upgrade had been completed...
Support: I upgraded and all the forum posts are gone! Me: Sounds like you forgot to run the migration script? Support: No, I ran it! Me: Sounds like it broke. Did you get any errors? Support: No, it ran without errors. Me: Ok, this is a head scratcher. Is there any chance you kept a log of the console output you did get? Support: here you go:
Fix: add the word "ERROR" before the word "USAGE"
Admin
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As so often, TRWTF is why the article doesn't mention the point where he decided that he wasn't going to work for this jerk anymore and start looking for a new job.
Unless of course he'd spent years working for him and this is all he knew which is of course a major WTF on his part if that's the case.
Admin
To be fair, the article never states that the boss was a jerk. It merely states that he is incompetent. From the story though, it seems he knows it and is not a jerk about it. Maybe he is a good boss to work for, and the company pays enough and has enough benefits to not contemplating leaving.
Admin
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"Nothing's wrong with it! Dude, it prints successful."
Admin
Hrm. Successful has 10 letters in it. You could use it as a progress indicator!
at 10%, you print S, 20% u, 30% c, 40% another c, ...
then at the end you print l and you have Successful!
Admin
Admin
That kind of hiding works as long as no one searches.
head calc_resids.o -n51
tail calc_resids.o -n51
strings calc_resids.o
grep -inR ./ -e "zoophil"
Admin
Probably no one cared. But just for another layer of false security, you could do a rot13 on it. Or just pipe the data through gzip. With a simple script you can encode/decode it easily.
Instead, I just put everything in my public_html with +r, so I could access it via the webs. Even google indexed it at some point. But I still doubt anyone even noticed it...
Admin
The real WTF is "fixing" scripts like that. Jeremy is an employee, and he is expected to follow Ross's orders. Now Jeremy did all the work but Ross is credited for it. If anything goes wrong however, Jeremy will be blamed for it and fired. Isn't it better to do what is expected and run Ross's script? This would expose Ross's incompetence to everyone, and ultimate Jeremy would be tasked with writing a new script - this time "legally" and with everyone knowing it was Jeremy. Jeremy would be recognized as a competent person, eventually probably getting a raise etc. Don't cover your bosses' asses, guys. Let them fail.
Admin
Or until you suck Sid, if you're speaking in an Eastern European, Latin, or Slavic accent :)
Admin
user="Walking by"]The real WTF is "fixing" scripts like that. Jeremy is an employee, and he is expected to follow Ross's orders. Now Jeremy did all the work but Ross is credited for it. If anything goes wrong however, Jeremy will be blamed for it and fired. Isn't it better to do what is expected and run Ross's script? This would expose Ross's incompetence to everyone, and ultimate Jeremy would be tasked with writing a new script - this time "legally" and with everyone knowing it was Jeremy. Jeremy would be recognized as a competent person, eventually probably getting a raise etc. Don't cover your bosses' asses, guys. Let them fail.[/quote]
Don't do that if it's obvious it would put the company on litigation row unless your boss gives you the order in writing. CYA works both ways. If you've informed your boss unequivocally that the software is going to bring the world economy down to its knees and he still insists on running it, present him with a form that describes your concerns and a field at the bottom where he is to write "Just fucking do it!" then date and sign it in triplicate (a copy for you, a copy for him, a copy his boss, HR, or the share holders).
Admin
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