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Confessions of a Software Developer: No More Self-Censorship

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Re: Confessions of a Software Developer: No More Self-Censorship

#191

Post by saghm »

redrove wrote: post #159
devmor wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of the author’s primary reasonings for why remote work sucks is apparently that they find it difficult to treat other people like human beings without close proximity to them. That’s pretty weird and uncomfortable and I don’t know that I would want to work with someone like that in or out of office.

It's a big problem especially if you haven't met the people you're working with. It's easy so think one dimensionally about a person, I catch myself doing it all the time and I can't say I'm wise enough to always stop it dead in its tracks.

I have coworkers from past jobs who I've never met in person but still stay in touch with because we became friends when we worked together. That's not to say it's not an issue for you or for the author, but at least from the way they phrased it in the article, it's not at all apparent to me whether they're actually intending their complaints about remote work to be personal opinions or if they think they apply to everyone.

Re: Confessions of a Software Developer: No More Self-Censorship

#192

Post by Aeolun »

cedws wrote: post #71

I think the author is too hard on themselves for not knowing things, probably coming from shame. I can only speak for myself but learning to shrug that off just how to say "I don't know X" or "I forgot X" is very freeing. I say I don't know shit all the time at work, and so do people I work with. We aren't encyclopedias. Just chuckle about it and figure it out and learn. I much prefer working with people who can just…

It’s so hard to ask people how git rebase works during an interview. They tend to assume you want the intricate technical details, which, while fun to know, completely miss the point. The only thing I care about is whether you can use the tool well enough that I don’t have to spend any time reconstructing branches :P

Re: Confessions of a Software Developer: No More Self-Censorship

#193

Post by hnlmorg »

Aeolun wrote: post #175
noman-land wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have encountered people who are scared to post in large public channels. Part of growing up in chatrooms was an implicit bravery of saying something out loud in a room full of thousands of people. There seems to have been a shift, somewhat, in the comfort level of different generations about saying things "out loud" in large public rooms. Chatrooms have evolved in a really interesting way. I think the first generat…

> I have encountered people who are scared to post in large public channels. People weren’t assholes and/or snowflakes in those days. Implicit in being on the net was that you were fairly well behaved.

How far back are we talking? 90s? 80s? 70s?

For the 70s, I would agree with you. But the moment home users, and particularly kids, gained access to the internet, you started to see a subculture of trolling.

Source: I was one of those 80s kids. It’s not something I’m proud of, but writing bots to troll message boards and scrapers for porn and warez played just as significant role in my journey into my IT profession as writing games on 8bit micros.

Re: Confessions of a Software Developer: No More Self-Censorship

#194

Post by Aeolun »

threecheese wrote: post #102

What does it say about me, that I was SURE his article was going to be admitting out loud that we are engineering ourselves into obsolescence, a lot of us are really enjoying it, and nobody is seriously discussing how afraid we should be for our families and future. I’m afraid to mention it professionally, given we have a literal policy around “AI doomers” (not the exact term) that has the word “separation” in it. Wo…

Why would I care? I’ll either steer the agents, or I’ll collaborate with them. Or I’ll do something else equally fun. It’s not as programming is the only worthwhile endeavour in the world.

Re: Confessions of a Software Developer: No More Self-Censorship

#195

Post by saghm »

nirui wrote: post #120

> You lose ambient awareness of coworkers’ problems, and asking for help is a bigger burden. When I was in school, I discovered that I studied more effectively and efficiently when I'm surrounded by other students who's also studying. Then at work, I found I worked much more productively if my coworkers are all doing their work. It's not just simply peer pressure, it's an atmosphere effect, it tell you "hey, this pla…

The question is whether enough of the other people around you have the same characteristic you describe that it's reasonable to require it for everyone, including the ones that don't. For those of us who don't work better that way, being required to go into an office in person to provide ambience for our coworkers is extremely dehumanizing.

Re: Confessions of a Software Developer: No More Self-Censorship

#196

Post by redrove »

devmor wrote: post #164
redrove wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a big problem especially if you haven't met the people you're working with. It's easy so think one dimensionally about a person, I catch myself doing it all the time and I can't say I'm wise enough to always stop it dead in its tracks.

I can’t say I have ever experienced this problem after conversing with someone more than a handful of times. Sure it applies to things like random people on social media and such, but after a mutual exchange or two you should be over it.

Maybe it applies more if you’re on the spectrum? (and the spectrum being wider than most people imagine)

Re: Confessions of a Software Developer: No More Self-Censorship

#197

Post by fluoridation »

saghm wrote: post #195
nirui wrote: post #120

> You lose ambient awareness of coworkers’ problems, and asking for help is a bigger burden. When I was in school, I discovered that I studied more effectively and efficiently when I'm surrounded by other students who's also studying. Then at work, I found I worked much more productively if my coworkers are all doing their work. It's not just simply peer pressure, it's an atmosphere effect, it tell you "hey, this pla…

The question is whether enough of the other people around you have the same characteristic you describe that it's reasonable to require it for everyone, including the ones that don't. For those of us who don't work better that way, being required to go into an office in person to provide ambience for our coworkers is extremely dehumanizing.

How is that dehumanizing when (by the parameters you've set) you're required to do it because you're human?

Re: Confessions of a Software Developer: No More Self-Censorship

#198

Post by devnull3 »

The ability to ask "stupid" questions without feeling embarrassed is a superpower IMO.

I had the sweetest manager once. Someone stared talking about iphone and she [1] casually asked "what is iphone?" (this is after 6-7 months after iPhone was launched). Everyone's jaw dropped ... what? In which world u live in? ... to which she said with a wide smile and not an ounce of embarrassment .. "what? I don't know what iphone is?"

But she was otherwise so good in every other aspect ...

[1] She is/was mother of 4 kids and that left her very little time for anything else.

Re: Confessions of a Software Developer: No More Self-Censorship

#199

Post by tomwphillips »

>Pair programming is less fruitful.

I'm surprised at this statement. My team pair a lot - at least half of the time - and the majority is remote.

We find it much more comfortable to pair remotely on our own setups than crowded around a single desk and keyboard.

I wonder why our experiences are so different.

Re: Confessions of a Software Developer: No More Self-Censorship

#200

Post by zwnow »

tomwphillips wrote: post #199

>Pair programming is less fruitful. I'm surprised at this statement. My team pair a lot - at least half of the time - and the majority is remote. We find it much more comfortable to pair remotely on our own setups than crowded around a single desk and keyboard. I wonder why our experiences are so different.

I dislike it in general, I want to work on my own terms and I have to interrupt my way of thinking constantly because now I have to communicate my ideas to some other person. Sometimes I like to work in the middle of the night, sometimes early in the morning. Having another person to code with me is just a blockade.
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