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| “This will never, ever, ever happen.” (comment) | ||
| recommended by 2 users | 2014 | dropit_sphere on: How to be a sane programmer | developer careers | original thread | | ||
| dropit_sphere on Mar 18, 2014 | on: How to be a sane programmer | view on HN | ||
| 2 users recommended this comment. What they said: |
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Jach May 21, 2014 | on: You already use Lisp syntax | context
For those who aren't so lucky to have an understanding manager (though you didn't say your manager then agreed to let you start writing everything in a lisp...), I just wanted to bring out the punchline of this hilarious and melancholy comment[1] from a couple months ago: "And yet: the money guys are offering money. Just swallow your pride, play 'Stairway to Heaven' at the wedding, and pretend you've never had crazy eyes when talking about homoiconicity, and the rent will be paid." [1] Don't upvote me: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7423626 |
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cobaltblue Dec 8, 2015 | on: Who Y Combinator Companies Want | context
Indeed so what, but do you program on weekends anyway? At least sometimes? Earlier in the thread you complained about golden handcuffs. That indicates there's something you'd rather be doing than your work, but the pay is too good to leave. I scratch my own itches with occasional weekend or night coding and usually it's for the fun of it, learning or keeping up with the trends can be a side benefit but not the goal. Often I work with one-off projects like coding a game using a new engine in a functional language. If I didn't need or like money as much I might just do these fun projects all the time. I think this personality of programming-as-hobby is pretty common in the field, and when we run into people who program strictly on the job and never any other time, who started programming only in college when they decided to get a degree and only did work for assignments or internships before getting hired, they may be really talented programmers on the job (which is why you can say "so what") but something feels off culturally. It'd be like meeting a guitarist who rocks with the best of them on stage while being paid but never plays off-the-clock or seems to have any interest in the instrument or the scene or the genres of play beyond their ability to make money. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7423626 makes the point well that for many programmers, we're just potheads whose potheadery became valuable. |
| Also recommended by people who recommended this: | ||
| 1. | “I'm going to be a heretic and argue that the problem with cancer research is institutional, not biological.” (comment) | |
| recommended by 1 user | 2012 | moldbug on: Why haven't we cured cancer yet? | original thread | | ||
| 2. | Ask HN: Quitting Big Tech, what is it like? | |
| recommended by 2 users | 2019 | 670 points by throwaway1m | original thread | | ||
This will never, ever, ever happen. There is too much money, for both sides, in pretending this isn't true.
The business side has been entrusted with a lot of money, its own or someone else's. Success has already been achieved. As such, it approaches things from a mindset of risk reduction. And the absolute worst thing possible, from a risk-reduction standpoint, is creative work. It's unpredictable, you don't know when you've got an end product, and it involves dealing with workers who have egos, who often work on things you don't understand. It is unmanageable, which obviously troubles those whose job it is to manage.
The most common approach, so far, has been to ignore this scary possibility: Keep projects as low-level as possible, spread responsibility far and wide (to reduce risk, not for optimal efficiency), and keep everyone wearing business casual.
Developers are (often) in the weird position of Ozzy Osbourne and other rock stars: potheads whose potheadery became valuable. What the developers know, however, is that businesses don't really want what they have to offer. They don't want to see the full effect of a bad trip. For every Bieber who turns crappy branding to gold in the teen girl demographic, there's Joe Concept Artist who's experimenting with some new grooves, but will never catch on. For every Zuckerberg who can bang out a social network in PHP, there's some dedicated open-source hacker whose dream is to make Lisp accessible to the common man.
And yet: the money guys are offering money. Just swallow your pride, play "Stairway to Heaven"[1] at the wedding, and pretend you've never had crazy eyes when talking about homoiconicity, and the rent will be paid.
[1]Nothing against the song.