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Extremely disillusioned with technology. Please help

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Re: Extremely disillusioned with technology. Please help

#91

Post by ay »

makapuf wrote: post #36
battery_cowboy wrote: post #2

I'm having similar issues, and i think i found a way out: stop playing their game. Don't make enterprise software. Don't write unit tests. Don't accept pull requests. Simply write software for yourself and have fun doing it. Forget refactoring code into modules, just fucking code. Don't worry about deployment with k8s, just copy the Python script to your production folder and run it. Fuck all that shit about git bran…

Thats exactly what i did while working on dreaded big data. Got myself a microcontroller, implemented a small arm console and write fucking low level C code optimized the heck of cpu cycles for tiny games, no code reuse, no interfaced, no deadlines, no refacto, no security, no network, no politics. Barely version control (with appropriate "update" commit messages). Kept me sane while doing those things at work.

+1 on the small 1-2 weekend tangible projects, that you may have wanted to build before, but never got to, they are great for morale.

This weekend I implemented RS232-powered RGB LED that is controlled attiny85, which reacts to strings sent to that very same RS232. A gross violation of standard, probably, but it works! It definitely added a lot of joy.

I typed “git init” only after I finished the first working version which had a regular One-color LED, and could not yet do blinking :-)

Re: Extremely disillusioned with technology. Please help

#92

Post by phkahler »

nnoitra wrote: post #69
throwaway839246 wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for the advice. It's really good. > Think about all the food stands that you have walked past in your life, within each stand is an immigrant family who slave away for decades hoping for a better life. Have you ever thought about them and gave them time/money for their suffering? I know what you mean and know what you're getting at. But I feel compelled to point out this particular example isn't quite the same…

How old are you? Why would you be at all surprised that VCs lie?

Projection? As a fairly honest person it took a long time to stop assuming other people were too. The alternative world view is disappointing but you get used to it.

Re: Extremely disillusioned with technology. Please help

#93

Post by icedchai »

xiaolingxiao wrote: post #78
throwaway839246 wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for the advice. It's really good. > Think about all the food stands that you have walked past in your life, within each stand is an immigrant family who slave away for decades hoping for a better life. Have you ever thought about them and gave them time/money for their suffering? I know what you mean and know what you're getting at. But I feel compelled to point out this particular example isn't quite the same…

Yeah the lying is really gross. It's an odd arrangement in this country where "shareholder value" can literally justify most things in the eyes of those with money. For a more personal anecdote, I have a friend who's been in the VC industry for 5+ years, and we had a very interesting conversation. He was closing a deal with a company and they asked for a higher valuation, and he thought objectively it's merited. But…

Divide it by two? He must be an optimist. I divide it by 10.

Re: Extremely disillusioned with technology. Please help

#94

Post by gfodor »

Most of your problems sound like they stemmed from VC. Similar story. It's a good, and hard, lesson. Two things one should not touch when it comes to building healthy companies in 2020: crypto and equity sales to VC. They're going to become fossils soon anyhow [1].

Read Rework by Basecamp. Read The Beginning of Infinity by Deutch. Read the Art of Doing Science and Engineering by Hamming. Watch some Bret Victor talks. Ignore the negative memes about tech. They're all wrong, the rules get re-written every 10 years, and that is going to decrease in duration, not increase. You might be the person needed to re-write them.

Release your code. Teach. Share.

If you can, bootstrap. Give more than you take. Don't hire or work with assholes. Grow slowly. Don't over-lever yourself. Make something people not just want, but love. Know thyself. Don't outsource your thinking, build the thing only you can build.

If you are not working on the most important problem in your field, why not?

Most importantly, know that the future is bright and that our best days are not only ahead of us, but always will be.

[1] https://alexdanco.com/2020/02/07/debt-is-coming/

Re: Extremely disillusioned with technology. Please help

#95

Post by rwesty »

battery_cowboy wrote: post #2

I'm having similar issues, and i think i found a way out: stop playing their game. Don't make enterprise software. Don't write unit tests. Don't accept pull requests. Simply write software for yourself and have fun doing it. Forget refactoring code into modules, just fucking code. Don't worry about deployment with k8s, just copy the Python script to your production folder and run it. Fuck all that shit about git bran…

This is really, really bad advice. Mutiny is hardly an answer to the problem here. It will certainly temporarily avoid the problems you face but if you are a member of a team and this is truly how you act you will get chucked out very quickly. But since you bring up a few of the issues you are facing it's important to address them. I want to focus on unit tests to start.

When I started my first programming job a couple of years ago I joined a team that demanded 100% code coverage. I hated them so much. I was still learning the ropes at this company and I only saw the unit tests as a barrier to getting my work done and earning my paycheck. My first solution was to create bogus tests that always passed. That was quickly discovered and I was reprimanded. My second solution was to get colleagues who shared my hate for unit tests to approve my PRs before they were reviewed by my team. That too was thwarted.

Then one day I was working with a teammate on a new feature and we discovered a bug. He quickly opened up a test file and wrote a unit test, then he went tried a couple solutions until the test turned green. Then he looked at me and said, "When when you are working in a pile of crap, testing makes you feel more confident about your code." That was my first insight into the value of testing. Eventually I came around and stopped trying to avoid tests. I just did the damn work. Once I established trust with my teammates they began to let the pressure off my PRs and slowly the displeasure of writing tests went away.

You pointed out a few different coding practices that frustrate you. And to be honest, those coding practices are not the gospel and should be deployed only when truly needed. However I think you have a serious problem with what a lot of us call being a good teammate. At the end of the day your goal should be to get the product shipped, once you focus on getting your features out the door, unit testing and pull requests become minor details in that process. At the end of the day those are just a cutesy to your teammates to show them that you are willing to be a responsible and helpful team member. Stop trying to fight everyone so much and maybe you will enjoy your job a little more.

Re: Extremely disillusioned with technology. Please help

#96

Post by danans »

> But eventually I started exercising, went on anti-depressants, and started therapy. Then I got a job that has nothing to do with technology. Slowly my happiness returned, and with it my ability to focus. I do a lot of sports now and hang out with my non-techy friends and my wife. I cook a lot.

Sounds like the issue had less to so with technology and more to do with lack of work-life balance and unaddressed clinical depression.

Re: Extremely disillusioned with technology. Please help

#97

Post by antisthenes »

bcrosby95 wrote: post #53

> I lost many friends. They weren't ever your friends. People at work rarely transcend beyond co-workers and into actual friendship. If all you do together is work and around-work activities, they probably aren't your friends. You're effectively people locked in a cage together that happen to get along. If you get together on days you don't work together then they might actually be your friend. If they've met your no…

This, 1000x times. At least someone understands what it means to be a friend.

It's daunting to hear so many people throw this term around casually.

Re: Extremely disillusioned with technology. Please help

#98

Post by unclebucknasty »

battery_cowboy wrote: post #2

I'm having similar issues, and i think i found a way out: stop playing their game. Don't make enterprise software. Don't write unit tests. Don't accept pull requests. Simply write software for yourself and have fun doing it. Forget refactoring code into modules, just fucking code. Don't worry about deployment with k8s, just copy the Python script to your production folder and run it. Fuck all that shit about git bran…

This is a great point, laced with justified indignation.

As a graybeard, I've seen multiple generations of "how to do software" and the most recent are the least fun. A lot of this is driven by the agile approach. It's tailor-made for dev burnout: from the endless tight cycles that force people into an infinite loop of productivity with scant satisfaction that comes with "completion", to all of the tools and philosophies designed to juice that endless loop to be successful/workable. CI/CD, Git, TDD, etc. These all impose on the developer's creativity, independence, and enjoyment. They turn devs into cogs--assembly line workers who must not stop the line at any cost.

One example: back in the day there was a nightly build, not a continuous one. And, you checked out a file, worked on it, and checked it back in. If someone else needed it they had to wait. That obviously had its limitations and it seems laughable by today's standards. But, it was reflective of a human pace that considered devs as people vs. optimizable assets. That is, it was workable because the expectations on devs weren't insane. But, now we commit and merge. Think of how much less fun it is to spend your time resolving merge conflicts.

More to the point, the approach itself implies a chaotic pace wherein code that meets the standards of a certain box must be produced at all times. Devs must bear the cost of resolving any conflicts (literally) that arise from this chaotic pace.

Likewise, with CI/CD. And don't get me started on the monkey-work that is TDD. You might argue that it improves code quality. But, it's hard to make the case that it improves job satisfaction. If you move more work from the creative, problem-solving bucket into the busy-work bucket, the result will not be personal fulfillment.

Does agile increase productivity for companies? Sure. But, it comes at a high cost that's mostly paid by devs.

Re: Extremely disillusioned with technology. Please help

#99

Post by zozbot234 »

phkahler wrote: post #92
nnoitra wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How old are you? Why would you be at all surprised that VCs lie?

Projection? As a fairly honest person it took a long time to stop assuming other people were too. The alternative world view is disappointing but you get used to it.

People are generally honest of course but investing is an adversarial setting essentially by definition, where honesty is hard to come by. Sometimes being more honest than needed might even put you at an unfair disadvantage, and keeping some cards close to your chest is just expected.

And of course, it's not like you have to get VC involved in order to run a successful business. You can self-bootstrap, which lets you focus 110% on efficiency and doing more with less. No BS involved.

Re: Extremely disillusioned with technology. Please help

#100

Post by catalogia »

rwesty wrote: post #95
battery_cowboy wrote: post #2

I'm having similar issues, and i think i found a way out: stop playing their game. Don't make enterprise software. Don't write unit tests. Don't accept pull requests. Simply write software for yourself and have fun doing it. Forget refactoring code into modules, just fucking code. Don't worry about deployment with k8s, just copy the Python script to your production folder and run it. Fuck all that shit about git bran…

This is really, really bad advice. Mutiny is hardly an answer to the problem here. It will certainly temporarily avoid the problems you face but if you are a member of a team and this is truly how you act you will get chucked out very quickly. But since you bring up a few of the issues you are facing it's important to address them. I want to focus on unit tests to start. When I started my first programming job a coup…

I don't think the GP's advice is meant for team projects.

> "Don't make enterprise software. [...] Don't accept pull requests. Simply write software for yourself and have fun doing it."

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