A Guide to Integrity for Developers

Honest Dev say: "Clout is enemy."

This is a collection of thoughts on the "Ola" archetype, the developer who prioritizes the appearance of achievement over the reality of engineering.

The Ultimate Paradox: The "Unfakeable" Fake

The defining characteristic of an Ola is a total lack of self-awareness regarding irony.

• Ola Behavior
  • Ola is building Nexr (`nexr.io`), a platform with the tagline: *"The era of unfakeable resumes".
  • The Irony: Ola claims this platform uses a "Neural Scan Engine" to verify authenticity, yet Ola is the one faking their own resume.
  • Ola sells "Trust" while manufacturing "Hype."

Rule: If you are building a tool to "verify resumes", verify your own first.

The "Core Contributor" Scam (Case Study: Gemma.cpp)

Ola believes that touching a file makes them an architect.

• The Claim
  • Ola says they're a: "Core Contributor to Google Gemma."
• The Reality (PR #818)
  • Ola found a `TODO` comment that said "rename to BlobFinder"
  • Ola renamed the class, broke the build, caused fatal errors in model_store.h, and failed the CLA check.
  • The PR received 162+ Thumbs Down reactions from the community.
  • The PR was eventually closed, not merged.
• Honest Dev Lesson
  • Breaking the build on a Google repo does not make you a Googler
  • If your contribution consists of renaming a variable and angering 160 people, do not put it on your LinkedIn.

The "Senior at 19" Inflation

Ola is in a hurry. Ola does not want to wait for "experience." Ola wants the title *now*.

• Ola Behavior
  • Updates bio to "Senior Software Engineer" at a YC-backed startup while still a teenager.
  • Claims to be a "Systems Engineer" at NVIDIA at 19.
  • Lists "Tech Genius award," "Quantum Physics paper," and "Mechatronics patent" all in the same year.
• Honest Dev Reality
  • Seniority is not a badge you unlock. It is a scar you get from crashing production.
  • If you are 19, be a Junior. This is good! Juniors are allowed to learn. "Senior" imposters are just waiting to be exposed.

The Proximity Metric

Ola believes that standing near smart people makes Ola smart by osmosis.

• Ola Behavior
  • "Touched @UWaterloo and met great people." (Note: "Touched" the university, did not attend).
  • Thanks Sam Altman (@sama) and Lex Fridman for "indirect (and direct) inspiration" to imply a relationship that doesn't exist.
  • "Argued philosophy with German physicists" instead of fixing the login bug.
• Honest Dev Reality
  • Greatness can be achieved through solitary work.
  • Meeting a genius is cool. Building something a genius uses is better.

Conclusion: Don't Be an Ola

Tech is one of the few industries where you can genuinely change your life by typing on a keyboard. You don't need to lie.

• Be Honest: "I am learning" is the most powerful sentence in the world.
• Be Real: "Do not build an "Unfakeable Resume" platform with a fake resume.