Posts by avdi@hachyderm.io
(DIR) Post #ATfdPHzx1sOjcn4Unw by avdi@hachyderm.io
2023-03-15T14:32:08Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
But we need to talk about how the "burnout" narrative is a privilege
(DIR) Post #ATfdPIWZ4cUBFwKXdg by avdi@hachyderm.io
2023-03-15T14:32:36Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
And it's a privilege mostly enjoyed by people who look like me
(DIR) Post #ATfdPJ6MvV7r2z58Rk by avdi@hachyderm.io
2023-03-15T14:33:49Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
And we need to talk about how absolutely fucking insulting the "burnout" narrative is to most people on earth
(DIR) Post #ATfdPJcyyFDIg8LBHU by avdi@hachyderm.io
2023-03-15T14:36:34Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
Especially the "I just couldn't do it anymore" part of the narrative. Every "I couldn't do it anymore" is propped up by dozens of people who crossed that line years ago and are still doing it anyway.
(DIR) Post #ATfdPK9F2J1AIBQwYy by avdi@hachyderm.io
2023-03-15T14:43:34Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
(perhaps we could also talk about the "sometimes you need to say no to other people and yes to yourself" narrative and how the only word for a father who does that is "deadbeat". Lots of highminded advice out there for non-caregivers.)
(DIR) Post #ATfdPKen90Frs2C8jw by avdi@hachyderm.io
2023-03-15T14:53:41Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
We need to talk about how, far from "unsustainable", empires built on burnout, misery, despair, hopeless grinding, escapism, and daydreams of unattainable ease have been sustaining themselves for centuries
(DIR) Post #ATfdPLDt2WKNcscARU by avdi@hachyderm.io
2023-03-15T14:55:21Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
And how these empires tempt people like me to construct an ethos from our despair and our tenacity that glorifies brutal hardness
(DIR) Post #Aaw3PTOBr0vLCn0gKm by avdi@hachyderm.io
2023-10-19T17:42:45Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
One of the many hateful things about Minecraft is I swear I've purchased it multiple times for each child and I don't understand how this mess costs money, let alone that much money, let alone why I have to keep buying it
(DIR) Post #Achs5hFaKUnInwlGa0 by avdi@hachyderm.io
2023-12-11T16:57:04Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
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
0 likes, 0 repeats
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
0 likes, 0 repeats
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
0 likes, 0 repeats
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
0 likes, 0 repeats
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
0 likes, 0 repeats
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 #Acjw52pBQ6iDYiHD2O by avdi@hachyderm.io
2023-12-10T02:15:24Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
One night two starving wanderers stumbled into town with nothing but an old pot. They built a huge bonfire in a vacant lot, filled the pot with water, and told ever passerby that they were going to brew up a batch of YAML soup.
(DIR) Post #Acjw53fIIMOcAKepGK by avdi@hachyderm.io
2023-12-10T02:18:23Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
"You can't make soup from just YAML!" said a C programmer. "Just watch us!" said one of the vagrants. "Although... YAML soup tastes even *better* with `if` statements." The C programmer, intrigued, sauntered off to grab some `if` statements.
(DIR) Post #Acjw54qftX5rpuzQdk by avdi@hachyderm.io
2023-12-10T02:21:40Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
"Soup from just YAML? Ridiculous." said the grizzled old UNIX-hand. "You'd be surprised!" said the hobos. "Although... if you really want to do it right, it needs an expression syntax". "Hell, I got plenty of those" said the UNIX guru, and he wandered off to grab a handful of them.
(DIR) Post #Acjw55m6S11yi1rI9Y by avdi@hachyderm.io
2023-12-10T02:22:23Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
Etc. Etc. anyway this is where Github Actions came from.