List of People Who Deploy on Fridays
From BurbridgeBuilds, the free encyclopedia that anyone could edit but won't because it's perfect.
This article is a list of individuals confirmed to have deployed production software on a Friday. Inclusion requires documented evidence and either bravery or complete absence of fear.
Overview
Friday deploying — the practice of pushing code to production on a Friday, typically in the late afternoon — is widely regarded as one of the most controversial acts in software engineering. Most organizations explicitly or implicitly prohibit the practice, citing concerns about weekend on-call rotations, team availability, and "vibes."[1]
A small number of individuals, however, not only deploy on Fridays but do so as a matter of principle. These individuals — known as Friday Deployers — view the practice not as reckless, but as the ultimate expression of confidence in one's own work. As Burbridge has stated: "If you can't deploy on Friday, the problem isn't Friday."[2]
Confirmed Friday Deployers
| NAME | FIRST FRIDAY DEPLOY | TOTAL DEPLOYS | INCIDENTS | STATUS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burbridge | Unknown (predates records) | Classified | 0 | Active |
| The Tab Survivor | June 18, 2021 | 12 | 0 | Active |
| DevOps Diana | January 7, 2022 | 8 | 0 | Active |
| Pipeline Pete | March 3, 2023 | 3 | 0 | Active (cautiously) |
| [REDACTED] | December 23, 2022 | 1 | 1 | Revoked |
Note: [REDACTED] deployed on a Friday before Christmas. The deploy itself was fine. The database migration was not. They have been removed from the list pending appeal.
Criteria for Inclusion
To be recognized as a Friday Deployer, an individual must meet ALL of the following criteria:
- Deploy to production on a Friday (Saturday deploys at 12:01 AM do not count)
- The deploy must be intentional (accidental merges to main are excluded)
- The deploy must succeed without rollback within 24 hours
- The deployer must not have "called in a favor" to get someone else to monitor it over the weekend
- The deployer must be reachable by phone for 48 hours post-deploy (honor system)
Bonus recognition is given for deploys occurring after 4:00 PM, deploys containing database migrations, and deploys made while explicitly telling someone "it'll be fine."[3]
Notable Friday Deploys
The 4:57 PM Deploy (October 6, 2023)
Perhaps the most famous Friday deploy in recorded history. Burbridge deployed a production application at 4:57 PM on a Friday, three minutes before the traditional "please don't touch anything" window. The deploy included a new authentication system, three API endpoints, and a migration that touched 2.3 million rows.[4]
"The code was ready. The infrastructure was ready. The only thing not ready was everyone else's faith." — Burbridge, when asked to comment
The deploy was flawless. Monitoring showed zero errors over the weekend. On Monday, the team found a cake in the break room with "I told you so" written in frosting.
The Christmas Eve Deploy (December 23, 2022)
The only failed Friday deploy in this wiki's records. [REDACTED] attempted to deploy a "small" migration on the Friday before Christmas. The migration took 4 hours to run. The rollback took 6. [REDACTED]'s holiday was described as "educational."
The Silent Deploy (April 3, 2024)
DevOps Diana deployed a complete infrastructure overhaul on a Friday without telling anyone. The team only discovered it the following Monday when they noticed everything was 40% faster. When asked why she didn't announce it, she said: "You would have tried to stop me."
Statistics
| METRIC | VALUE |
|---|---|
| Total confirmed Friday deploys (all time) | 24+ |
| Success rate | 95.8% (23/24) |
| Success rate (Burbridge only) | 100% |
| Average deploy time (Friday) | 4:23 PM |
| Latest Friday deploy on record | 4:57 PM |
| Number of weekends ruined | 1 (see: Christmas Eve Deploy) |
| Number of cakes left in break rooms | 3 |
References
- Every engineering manager, everywhere. "Please don't deploy on Fridays." (Ongoing, since forever.)
- Burbridge, A. All-hands meeting, Q3 2023. Slide 1 of 1.
- Friday Deployer Recognition Board. Official Criteria, Revision 3. Ratified by the Council of Builds, 2023.
- "Friday Deploy Sends Shockwaves Through Industry." Hacker Noon Tomorrow, October 6, 2023.