[yp_all]

Great story. It is good to know that some programmers do learn over time.

For every 1 story like yours there are probably 10 where someone is still traying to get "revenge" by saying nasty things about you know who.

Those more common stories get replicated through the wires and the end result is that no one cares about programming anymore; they are simply interested in discussing interpersonal relations.

Would you rather have your software written by a foolish programmer who is pleasantly tactful or a competent and conservative one who is tactless?

The answer of course varies depending on what you are really after.

[JackC]

> Would you rather have your software written by a foolish programmer who is pleasantly tactful or a competent and conservative one who is tactless?

This is a false dichotomy. Interpersonal skills are among the skills necessary to work on a project that involves more than one person. That covers most of the interesting ones. If there's a successful project with someone who lacks those skills, it's because other people are covering for them -- just like a successful project with a foolish programmer. Sometimes that person makes up for it with other things they bring to the table, and that's fine, but don't pretend a weakness is a virtue.