Live data from Hacker News

I am retiring from tech to live offline

openpath.quest

261–270 of 617 posts

Re: I am retiring from tech to live offline

#261

For those scratching their heads asking who is this guy and why should I care? He has been tackling the open source sustainability issue since launching gittip circa 2012. Since then millions of dollars have been raised for open source because of him. Sure it’s a drop in the bucket but he did it. Chad is a friend of mine. You can’t find a nicer person in tech than him. I hope this is temporary because he can still ma…

Yep. Chad is great. Although, if anyone were to lead a cult, I figure it would be Chad, hopefully he doesn’t accidentally charisma himself into a cult leader situation.

Re: I am retiring from tech to live offline

#262

While I definitely respect the choice to live an offline life, as someone that grew up orthodox christian in an orthodox country I can't shake off the vibe this dude gives: very LARPy and sounds like an evangelical. Orthodox never tell you that they're sinners and to pray for their sins. That's an americanism.

Every convert to Orthodoxy I've seen in the US is like this. Converts to Catholicism, too, but definitely not cradle Catholics.

[dead]

Re: I am retiring from tech to live offline

#263

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The best position anyone can be in 2026 is having financial freedom so you can leverage AI to build whatever you want. The worst position is working in a company with non-technical and AI psychosis management.

Figuring out what you want to build isn't necessarily easy.

What does it even mean to say you want to build something but you don’t know what it is?

Re: I am retiring from tech to live offline

#264

It is amusing and depressing to see so many people exit tech. I remember this happened in similar “vibes/strides around 08 and then for Covid, which ironically doubled down on remote work. And now for AI. It really paints a projection on how much time we all really have in this world and this segment of work. At best I wonder, do “I” have another 10 - 15 years left in tech? Do you? Agreed with the other comments on f…

The problem isn't tech, it's the management/executive layer behind the firehose of VC bullshit and the consultant class of MBAs allowing decision making without consequence. We need to step up and kick all of these idiots out of the industry - not step or shy away. They're expecting techies to be soft and not to confront them using word games. Be as elitist and forward as you need to survive - but I plan on spending the next decade fiercely attacking the cancer... "Show me the money - or shut the fuck up". I can easily act more impatient than they can.

Re: I am retiring from tech to live offline

#265
Folks might find the following beautiful framework from Indian Philosophy very useful here.

One's Life is structured w.r.t. three axes;

1) The Goals of Life aka Purusartha - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puru%E1%B9%A3%C4%81rtha They are;

    - Artha: All sorts of wealth including material and non-material like friends, health etc. Needed for a good life.

    - Dharma: Rules/Regulations/Laws/Ethics/Morals which make coexistence in a society possible.

    - Kama: All sorts of pleasures that one seeks for enjoyment. Many equate only this to the goal of life.

    - Moksa (optional): Cultivating a mindset which supersedes and transcends the above three thus "freeing oneself" from the unending "wheel of life".
2) The Stages of Life aka Asrama - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%80%C5%9Brama_(stage) They are;

    - Brahmacharya: From Childhood to Adulthood (before puberty) which is the Student stage. During this stage you focus on studying and learning various subjects/arts. Since both mind and body are still developing, self-control and discipline w.r.t. various harmful external influences are emphasized. The goal is the development of a healthy mind and body.

    - Grihastha: The married Householder stage with Wife and Children. The Grihastha is considered the central pillar of society since everything else depends on him. He generates wealth, enjoys all sorts of pleasures and lives within a social law framework for peaceful coexistence. 

    - Vanaprastha: The retired householder stage who has successfully raised his children i.e. put them through brahmacharya and into grihastha stage. He now removes himself from much active duty in society thus making room for the next generation to step-in and develop. He curbs his desires/wants (since both body and mind are ageing) and acts mostly as an adviser to the next generation.

    - Sannyasa (optional): This is a completely different stage/way of life whose only goal is Moksa. A person can move to this stage from any of the above stages. Most of the ordinary rules/laws/practices of society are not applicable here.
3) Finally, your "duty" aka Karma in Society. In today's world, we generally equate this with work which enables us to earn our livelihoods. This should be in harmony with the Goals and Stages of Life i.e. at each stage the mix of goals and emphasis on them are different.

Understand your current stage in life, Manage/Control your goals w.r.t. that stage and Adjust your duty accordingly for a Happy and Fulfilled Life.

Re: I am retiring from tech to live offline

#266

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Working on my own product using Claude, I feel like front-end coding hasn’t changed much. It still requires a lot of manual tweaking and understanding users at a human level. Personally I’m happy that the backend and algorithmic side writes itself.

That's refreshing to read (frontend is my wheelhouse). I mostly agree. It seems like most people using AI treat FE as a solved problem, satisfied using tailwind and settling for "looks close enough".

I think there will always be space for good artisanal FE. This is a Ford Model T moment, the software production line has just been invented, but that didn’t stop smaller sports car manufacturers pushing the envelope.

Re: I am retiring from tech to live offline

#267

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do the Amish pay non-Amish to do forbidden things for them? Asking for a friend.

Yes. They pay folks to drive them around.

A friend of mine encountered a wrecked buggy on the road and drove the Amish family inside it to the hospital and saved lives.

The entire local Amish community now comes and helps him tend his property, raised him a barn.

Re: I am retiring from tech to live offline

#268
Seeing some of these retirement comments, as a 49 year old developer who has been doing this since the late 1990s, I'll be honest, I can't relate. I have no interest in retiring anytime soon.

I still see a ton of frontier to explore, and personally I love AI. I've always loved writing code, but was always frustrated at how it took at trudge through learning new languages and approaches, and all of the plumbing and boilerplate it took to actually build something. I've always enjoyed having extensive breadth about many languages in addition to the few that I had extreme depth in.

In other words, I don't feel AI has taken something I love away, but has removed barriers to finally build solutions in a way that maps perfectly with my brain.

Re: I am retiring from tech to live offline

#269

I have been at it for 20 years now and have started to feel my time is up as well As a lot of comments here highlights, the issue is not so much the tech but the politics, constant perf reviews, re-orgs, nonsense BS that is pushed top-down. This industry is taking a toll on you. My advice for anyone reading this that is starting your career: Live simply and save a lot. When I started my career I thought I would love…

I basically agree, just adding context.

As companies grow, it's the natural state of things, as any hope for goal alignment goes out the window. I am OK dealing with situations where the good for the company's long term might not be the same as my personal preferences. But we often see situations where what is decided isn't good for the company, or for most workers, but great for a decision maker, and we all know that at those layers, talking about the misalignment to the layer above is a great way to get canned. A decade or that, and the company is a zombie.

I've enjoyed tech in environments where there was alignment, and in a few cases it made me serious money, which is why I have said optionality myself. But nowadays AI has led to much higher capital costs to do innovative things, so the number of companies with the right size and potential has shrunk, and that makes fulfilling careers far less likely.

Re: I am retiring from tech to live offline

#270

For those scratching their heads asking who is this guy and why should I care? He has been tackling the open source sustainability issue since launching gittip circa 2012. Since then millions of dollars have been raised for open source because of him. Sure it’s a drop in the bucket but he did it. Chad is a friend of mine. You can’t find a nicer person in tech than him. I hope this is temporary because he can still ma…

This all makes me tremendously sad. I wish them well.
Post reply on HN