I would be more enthused if the code I’d be offsetting would be public domain. Not GPL. Not BSD. Public domain. Let’s help everyone.
Ah, but who will be your Martin Luther?
This is interesting, what about people who write bad code for other open source projects? I will check it out though.
I think…the main point is missing and you are concentrating on funny part of it.
I think you are concentrating on funny part instead of real thing about bad coding
Speak for yourself, Jeff. Not everybody writes bad code. Everybody makes mistakes and sometimes bugs find their way into our software regardless of the quality of the code.
no true
yes indeed, I liked it a great subject too great a share, thanks
Dans Okulu
The frequency and value of your posts are declining.
I once urged coworkers to read this blog. Today, when talking about the fold, I mentioned that Coding Horror recently had an article about the fold. A coworker said that he has not looked at Coding Horror in a while. My response was, “Don’t bother. That site has really gone downhill.”
I was surprised at how honest that statement felt.
Actually, I don’t think tool is the reason of bad code.
It blongs to coder self.
No. I don’t want to give any money to those organizations.
Thanks a lot.Good idea…
Same here, I would not donate.
I would not donate for that.
This isn’t new. The following is from 1997 or earlier:
“We should sell ‘bloat credits’, the way the government sells
pollution credits. Everybody’s assigned a certain amount of
bloat, and if they go over, they have to purchase bloat credits
from some other group that’s been more careful.”
– Bent Hagemark
There’s actually a very easy way to avoid writing bad code which I’ve seen very effectively practised at my workplace. The solution is to write no code at all, and either let other people do all the work (who then also have to do all the fixing) or let the end users scream in anguish.
Not only do you save money on buying bad code offsets, you also save time which you can spend on surfing the web. What more can one ask for?
I tried to run this past my client but they turned it down… 
Could be a mess at all. If you write lots of bad code, you’re going to need that extra money down the road to fix or just maintain your own mess, which you might otherwise send to a worthy cause such as bad code offsets.
Im really starting to think Jeff is a f******* scammer with all these little sites he’s creating. I love this one:
“Patron Members’ financial contributions enable The Alliance to develop and support not-for-profit initiatives like Bad Code Offsets. An annual membership is currently $50.00; as a thank-you for contributing, we will mail you a black T-shirt with our logo.”
For f**** sake, a 1 dollar hanes t-shirt is being sold by Jeff Atwood for $50. What a nut case. Then I read about the members involved and even Jon Skeet is in. What gives, you guys go find a damn job and stop begging for money.
Weasles.
Right next to atwood in the dictionary in big bold letters is the word PONDSCUM
“Yes, this is partly tongue in cheek…,” is such a pathetic attempt to disguise how this is a despicable idea.
My interpretation is, “Yes, I realize how obnoxious and worthless this project is and how closely it resembles an internet scam. However, I am not entirely serious. If you are credulous enough to believe in this, then yes, I am serious. If you are offended by this idea, then default back to the tongue in cheek line (psst, it’s my safety line).”