Post AcikeQl528HzJdVKr2 by joshsusser@neurodifferent.me
(DIR) More posts by joshsusser@neurodifferent.me
(DIR) Post #Achs5hFaKUnInwlGa0 by avdi@hachyderm.io
2023-12-11T16:57:04Z
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If there's one thing that's more and more clear to me over the course of my career is how much of developer culture is dedicated to making ourselves complicit in our own exploitation. Witness the absolute mindless doublespeak that passes for engagement on LinkedIn.
(DIR) Post #Achs5iqqNSBxlnCXIG by avdi@hachyderm.io
2023-12-11T17:02:58Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
It's canonical that managing programmers is like "herding cats". This is more a more apt metaphor than folks realize. Owning a cat is about coddling a creature and treating them like a regal little Primadonna who "runs the place" - as an amusing fiction. Which is exactly the relationship the financiers have with developers.
(DIR) Post #Achs5jgFILJCLDFaPg by avdi@hachyderm.io
2023-12-11T17:05:16Z
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SV culture is an experiment in "what if instead of controlling the workers with Pinkertons, we engaged them in a vast shared delusion that they are colleagues with the bosses?"
(DIR) Post #Achs5kRkRjJ2iXTWSG by avdi@hachyderm.io
2023-12-11T17:20:44Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
For a long time I had trouble with the concept of unionizing programmers, because it felt like we're already so privileged compared to blue-collar workers.What I realize now is that all that privilege vanishes like a mirage the moment people start talking about unionization. Or the moment interest rates go up.
(DIR) Post #Achy9aykBlLAEk7u0u by avdi@hachyderm.io
2023-12-11T17:22:28Z
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We have to talk about unions, because the way "great employers" like Apple start actively persecuting people the moment they start comparing salaries reveals how flimsy the fiction really is.
(DIR) Post #Achy9bvEgI81A9UcBU by avdi@hachyderm.io
2023-12-11T17:23:16Z
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We have to talk about unions because talking about it pulls down the green curtain.
(DIR) Post #Achy9cb4AlaZFt41Nw by avdi@hachyderm.io
2023-12-11T17:28:13Z
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And this is going to be hard because a LOT of programmers would very much like to keep imagining that they rule the home from their cat-tree. Even if that means imagining that their present state of unemployment is an issue with their skills rather than a meaningless externality of investor games. *Especially* if it means believing whatever they are working on is "innovation" rather than "an investor enthusiasm attractor".
(DIR) Post #Achy9dXYfINQBIQjYW by avdi@hachyderm.io
2023-12-11T18:21:20Z
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Much of this thread inspired by the fact that not only did Apple illegally quash salary discussions, but *Mozilla* - of all organizations - apparently nixed a hire because they were an Apple whistleblower. When the do-gooders are colluding to crush labor, you know the game is rigged. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-11-22/nlrb-files-case-against-mozilla-for-not-hiring-labor-activist?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTcwMTczNDIyNCwiZXhwIjoxNzAyMzM5MDI0LCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJTNEZOTUpEV1JHRzAwMSIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiI0MEY4Q0M0RTg1NDM0MEJFQUFFODMzQUIyN0Q2NERFNCJ9.wXBFXEHHNUa90v47dmg7vMEEJcZWLr6B-ipMVmS2XD0
(DIR) Post #Achy9eGZxuOCQvUgjI by nach@bae.st
2023-12-11T18:29:10.584880Z
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@avdi >When the do-gooderslmao
(DIR) Post #AcikeQl528HzJdVKr2 by joshsusser@neurodifferent.me
2023-12-11T17:41:52Z
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@avdi The career path for developers always seems to end in becoming a manager. I assume this makes it hard to convince developers to support the idea of unions. They think of themselves as future managers, the same way most poor Americans think of themselves as temporarily embarassed millionaires.
(DIR) Post #AcikeRsCt7aGm1qXbM by FrightenedRat@mastodon.scot
2023-12-11T21:47:30Z
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@joshsusser @avdi Shudders - why would anyone give up working on the code-face to become lumbered with management nonsense?I always thought the beauty of development and architecting was NOT having to get ensnared in that icky stuff in order to progress.When I was young I cluelessly thought I didn't need a union - if I didn't like my workplace I'd go elsewhere. But I got attached to projects & let myself be exploited.Older me knows a union isn't about just yourself but everyone together.
(DIR) Post #AcikeShFpKPvKLjJAW by dalias@hachyderm.io
2023-12-12T03:28:47Z
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@FrightenedRat @joshsusser @avdi Tech managers are managing the wrong things because tech companies are making the wrong things. It would be lovely to be managing the medium to high level architecture of worthwhile projects and mentoring junior folks to flesh out the details. But trying to achieve Google's strategic goals that mean forcing ppl under you to make their stuff worse? 🤮
(DIR) Post #AciykSINd857B8qaZs by LGUG2Z@hachyderm.io
2023-12-12T05:36:27Z
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@avdi love this whole threadI dream of the day a strong union makes LeetCode and HackerRank interviews untenable for any companies that want to hire developers
(DIR) Post #Acj1ocNgNFjbTm0Ihk by alrs@lsngl.us
2023-12-12T06:44:47Z
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@avdi free clif bars! see you on the superyacht, someday, right?
(DIR) Post #Acj6clQfPIaLpyZCDY by tyil@fedi.tyil.nl
2023-12-12T07:38:48.515Z
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@avdi@hachyderm.io Oh man, I 'member using #LinkedIn when I was younger and more impressionable. Nowadays I try to avoid it, there's no intelligent discourse to be had there.