I am reading a lot of people commenting on how bad it makes them feel to use the word "Mort" when referring to developers. I thought it was kind of funny and in good taste at first, but I don't think I could call someone Mort to their face, so ultimately, "Mort" fails to be a useful word to solve any problem. (I don't think anything's going to get solved unless you can talk to someone openly about the problem you have with them.)

I have started just using a term I first heard Scott Hanselman use: "501" Developer. This adjective:

• Accurately describes the problem
• Is something the 501 would probably readily cop to
• Even has kind of a pseudo-cool consolation word-sense, which might lull the 501 into a conversation that lasts until 5:02.

The only problem is that "501 developer" harms innocent bystanders. Some developers get to work at 6am and leave at 5pm. Some developers have their work hours set by someone else. Some developers are good people trapped in bad situations and just want to get out of there as quickly as possible to go home and work on something that adds meaning to their lives.

I sympathize with the innocent bystanders, but the term is just too good to let go. You know when you are not a 501 developer, no matter what time you leave work. You care about your craft. That's all that matters.

So why not just drop this Mort stuff and use 501? Mort is divisive and not descriptive, while 501 addresses a core problem and doesn't attack someone's identity - just an aspect of their behavior.

In the Cryptonomicon, Neal Stephenson talks about this:

"I don’t like the word ‘addict’ because it has terrible connotations," Root says one day, as they are sunning themselves on the afterdeck. "Instead of slapping a label on you, the Germans would describe you as ‘Morphiumsüchtig.’ The verb suchen means to seek. So that might be translated, loosely, as ‘morphine seeky’ or even more loosely as ‘morphine-seeking.’ I prefer ‘seeky’ because it means that you have an inclination to seek morphine."

"What the f**k are you talking about?" Shaftoe says.

"Well, suppose you have a roof with a hole in it. That means it is a leaky roof. It’s leaky all the time—even if it’s not raining at the moment. But it’s only leaking when it happens to be raining. In the same way, morphine-seeky means that you always have this tendency to look for morphine, even if you are not looking for it at the moment. But I prefer both of them to ‘addict,’ because they are adjectives modifying Bobby Shaftoe instead of a noun that obliterates Bobby Shaftoe."

Mort is a noun that obliterates the person it refers to, while 501 is just and adjective.