What's the story behind Make Better Software?

In the summer of 2005, filmmaker Lerone D. Wilson followed around a group of Fog Creek summer interns during a whole summer as they built a new product from the ground up, Fog Creek Copilot. That footage became a movie called "Aardvark'd: 12 Weeks with Geeks" (IMDB).

After working with Wilson, the team at Fog Creek wanted to make another documentary, one that would go more in-depth into the software development process.

For over a year, Wilson practically lived in the Fog Creek office, conducting hundreds of interviews and getting hundreds of hours of footage of the software development process. This footage is at the heart of Make Better Software.

Are the DVD's and printed materials still available and/or required?

Make Better Software debuted in 2010 as a $1,995 DVD set which included an instructor guide and 5 student packets for corporate use. At that time it was required that a student pack be purchased for additional viewers at a cost of $59.

The DVD's and printed materials are nolonger available for sale, nor are they currently required for corporate use. Most of the content from the student packs can still be found at the Joel on Software blog however.

Why are the online videos slightly different than the older DVD versions?

In order to make the series available free of charge we had to strip the series of some ancillary content which was licensed for DVD use. This affected things like music, stock footage, sound effects, etc. The content of the series remains exactly the same however.

Can I screen the series for my small software team?

Yes. Corporate use is absolutely permitted as long as it does not require large scale projection, retransmission, or duplication. You may not use it for events which require admission fees (i.e. Conferences) without an additional license (E-mail us for more information.).

Can I screen the series for my students?

Yes. Educational use is absolutely permitted provided there are no admission fees for the viewing, and retransmission or duplication is not required.

Can I screen the series as part of a conference/special event?

No. If you would like to screen the series for a large audience, or at an event which requires paid admission you must purchase a license. E-mail us for more information.