Ask HN: What is the thing you've built that you regret the most?

Every minute of software development makes you feel like you're never good enough (the compiler keeps reminding you). Also, on the company side, you're always made to feel like a replaceable cog in a big machine, not to mention that salaries are generally limited and under constant threat of outsourcing... To rub salt into the wound, most companies don't even care about code quality; they will happily pay 10 mediocre engineers to do the job of 1 good engineer (for 10x the total price) and end up with worse results. Hiring has been broken for decades. They don't care about coding efficiency or maintainability when they have a monopoly... Engineer salaries are often peanuts relative to their significant revenues... They could hire 10 times more devs for the same work and it would make little difference for them... Yet they will not pay high salaries to engineers based on talent; it's all about internal politics.

But recently I found out that an algorithm that I was a crucial part in building ended up doing some real bad things. I don't really want to talk about it directly because I'm not sure I really want to be implicated.

The point is, I feel terrible. I played a role in negatively impacting a lot of peoples lives. Sure, I wasn't the only one who built it. Nor did I play a part in what it turned into, or made any decisions about how it should be used. I just built a thing.

But I think we as programmers, tend to look fondly on our systems that we develop. They are sort of like our children (in a very loose sense). I spent years thinking back to building it, and being filled with joy. Now I see what it's done, what I helped create, where it ended up.

I just feel sick. I talked to a peer who helped on it about it. They also feel the same. Just terrible. Burnt out. Ready to switch careers entirely.

I think I might be able to continue in this field, make the right decisions, and think through the true impact of what I'm building before I commit to it.

But then again, I think back at all of the work I've done in my career, and all of it was exploitative to people at least in some sense. I'm not sure you can profit without exploitation in tech, it might be inherent (I realize that's a negative statement. I'm in a mood).

So I'm thinking I may just switch into a career I can feel good about, unless I can find a job or project that will allow me to be ethical.

We really need to come together as a community and stand up for ethics. Every day a programmer out there is faced with an ethical dilemma, one that will probably get them fired if they don't comply. Plus, that won't even matter, because they will just get someone else to do it anyway. There's not a good way to save your source of income while also doing the right thing.

did you forget about cellphones?

One meeting in particular really stands out still, a social media giant that everyone knows was in town meeting the founders to sell additional personalization data. Before that meeting, I thought things the start-up were doing were a bit sketchy, maybe borderline unethical. During the meeting itself, it was more like sitting around a table with Dr. Evil and a few henchmen. They were actively, unambiguously picking vulnerable groups for ad re-targeting. And that's not even the worst of it, the meeting wraps up and one of the founders says "OK guys, let's go get some beers and bring some girls". Then this despicable excuse for a man promptly walked out into the office, points at a few female employees and says "You, you and you, come with us now".