I think most are missing that this is a code review + loyalty review.
I think most people realize that it's more than a code review, in fact I suspect that it's such a transparent loyalty review is exactly why so many people's feathers got ruffled.
For sure a software engineer from Tesla, or even a manager, can get an idea of
how valuable/productive a coder is without fully understanding the code in
detail.
Yeah, maybe. But Musk is asking SWEs to print 50 pages of their code so he can personally can review it. Any halfway competent manager or exec should be able to see this is not a good way of reviewing performance in earnest.
Counterpoint: what other CEO would be involved in low level stuff like looking at code or personally interviewing newly acquired employees?
Things like that are beneath most CEOs.
This is exactly what makes Musk a different (and better) CEO. When needed he'll sleep on the factory floor and help fix manufacturing issues and when needed he'll look at the code.
Plus, I assume the code is not the biggest part of the interview but provides context for something to talk about.
Musk interviewed ALL of the early SpaceX employees (not exclusively, but he was one of the interviewers).
Those who were interviewed by him say that he's very good at figuring out if someone is good or a bulshitter.
So I assume he's doing the interviewers at Twitter for the same reason: to separate chaff from the wheat
https://twitter.com/caseynewton/status/1586127052767318016