An interesting commentary today from John Gruber on independent programmers and the alluring goal of achieving “The Life.“

Gruber makes some great points about the not-so-simple criteria that define “ultimate success” for an indie programmer, observing that support responsibilities for one-person shows can be crippling. It’s almost enough to make a developer pray for obscurity. Who am I kidding, of course it isn’t!

In this excerpt, Gruber observes that Brent Simmons of NetNewsWire fame is closer to living “The Life” now as an employee than he was as an independent business owner:

I find this especially striking because in many ways Brent has transitioned to steady employment without (it would seem) giving up the benefits of his independence. He continues to work from home (for better and for worse), is charged with mapping the future progress of NetNewsWire, and most likely received stock in the acquiring company, giving him a vested interest in the continuing growth of his product’s popularity.

Most importantly, he and Sheila don’t have to bear the brunt of *everything* anymore. In many cases an acquisition gives more power to the individuals in the smaller company than it does to any individuals in the larger one. Take Apple’s acquisition of NeXT. The individual employees of NeXT who stayed on at Apple suddenly became about a bazillion times more influential on the future of the Mac than the employees who had been working on the Mac for the past 15 years.

I agree with the gist of Gruber’s analysis – “The Life” is getting hired to keep doing what you’ve been doing, with fewer headaches, better pay, and more influence.

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