Ponytails and sandals... Oooh! Scary!

Peter Quinn's interesting take on IT Dress Codes misses some of the point, methinks.

I don't deny that costumes can have a significant impact on how one is perceived. Certainly, if I showed up in a gorilla suit for a job interview... provided the job did not involve WEARING a gorilla suit... I would most likely not get the job. ...But... Sandals? Ponytails? Please.

Dedicated F/OSS developers do their work irrespective of whether corporations or governments "buy" it. They do it because they love it. They do it because they can. If their product has merit, their clothes should be of no consequence. If all they have to offer is their appearance, well... they'd better make that count, I guess.

As a member of the "sandal and ponytail set", I think that Mr. Quinn, a politician and bureaucrat, is failing to see that it is exactly that the "sandal and ponytail set" refuses to conform which enables them to do what they do; to make the innovative and universally enabling strides they do. If you've ever heard the expression, "If you give them an inch, they'll take a mile," you should readily understand that the people who are expecting conformity are the people who would, if faced with an IT problem immediately turn to their Microsoft or Oracle VAR and ask how much money will it cost. First they want you to cut your hair... then they want you to wear "proper shoes"... then it's khakis and Oxfords... then you're going to meetings and "networking" means something different... before long, you're a droid with nothing innovative to offer. You're one of them. Feh!

Given the choice, I'd take a "sandals and ponytail" gig over a "suit" job any day.