GoFuckYourself.com - Adult Webmaster Forum - View Single Post - how do you know your programmer isnt ripping you off?

raymor · 09-05-2011, 11:13 AM

I have several suggestions. First, the same way that you first address the much bigger concern of making sure they don't suck (most do). You work with people who have a long established reputation for competency and integrity. You can also use the principle of least privilege, meaning people only get the access they need. Your PHP programmer probably doesn't need root access, so under this principle he doesn't get root access.

Then, before having them do the gigantic job, building your whole new system for all of your dozens of sites, you test them out on smaller jobs which require less access. If they break your trust on something small, you don't trust them with something big. If they insist on absolute integrity on something minor, you can be assured they'll act with integrity in larger matters. One guy put it well a while back when he said "Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much". (Jesus according to Luke). That is, honest people are honest, while liars lie and thieves steal. They guy who brags to you about what he did to some other guy will do the same to you.

I've started implementing that same idea right here on GFY. Lately we've had people posting about stealing cars they were supposed to be leasing, sending spam, all kinds of crap. That tells me that for now those people are lacking integrity. We will not be working with them.

So to summarize:
Reputation
Least privilege
Small things - honest people are honest and liars lie.

09-05-2011, 11:13 AM
raymor Confirmed User Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 3,745	I have several suggestions. First, the same way that you first address the much bigger concern of making sure they don't suck (most do). You work with people who have a long established reputation for competency and integrity. You can also use the principle of least privilege, meaning people only get the access they need. Your PHP programmer probably doesn't need root access, so under this principle he doesn't get root access. Then, before having them do the gigantic job, building your whole new system for all of your dozens of sites, you test them out on smaller jobs which require less access. If they break your trust on something small, you don't trust them with something big. If they insist on absolute integrity on something minor, you can be assured they'll act with integrity in larger matters. One guy put it well a while back when he said "Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much". (Jesus according to Luke). That is, honest people are honest, while liars lie and thieves steal. They guy who brags to you about what he did to some other guy will do the same to you. I've started implementing that same idea right here on GFY. Lately we've had people posting about stealing cars they were supposed to be leasing, sending spam, all kinds of crap. That tells me that for now those people are lacking integrity. We will not be working with them. So to summarize: Reputation Least privilege Small things - honest people are honest and liars lie. __________________ For historical display only. This information is not current: support@bettercgi.com ICQ 7208627 Strongbox - The next generation in site security Throttlebox - The next generation in bandwidth control Clonebox - Backup and disaster recovery on steroids Last edited by raymor; 09-05-2011 at 11:14 AM..