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Comment by unit91 | Hacker News Reader

Nice write-up. Strikes me as a little strange to donate to charity as negative reinforcement though.

Depends how much you donate.

Another approach is donating to a charity you despise. Some friends of mine use a mutual donation pact to get things done. Each sets a goal they need to accomplish by the end of the month, and hands the other a signed check for $50 for a charity or political campaign they hate. If they don't accomplish the goal, the other person drops the envelope in the mail.

It's very effective. :-X

This is the proper way to set up the disincentive, and you'll find it recommended in many places.

For instance, stickK sets up its commitment contracts with the option to donate to an "anti-charity":

https://www.stickk.com/faq/charities/Commitment+Contracts

It also allows you to donate to fan clubs of sports teams you despise :)

Was thinking the same thing. This would increase my chances of failing builds.

It would be way more effective if you were donating straight to a competitor, or a political organization you do not support at all.

Why would it do that, since presumably you are already giving all the money to charity that you willingly give?

I’ll give money to charity in theory but in practice I don’t have time.

Maybe an alternative is a fixed amount going to charity where a broken build means a portion of that money essentially goes to the equivalent of /dev/null.

Or the department beer fund?

Doesn't that encourage the hoarding of best practices so one can drink at the expense of the less experienced?

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