rant about capitalism and software

Submitted by hollyhoppet in technology

software is bad because capitalism is bad. so much time and effort is wasted on tracking and advertising code. so much more is wasted on companies doing the exact same thing in different places for "competition." developers are constantly pressured to release half-baked features so the company can get ahead rather than making their shit solid.

i've had to write so much garbage to make a living. if i didn't have to meet my material needs i could make so much cool, useful shit instead. i would help improve mastodon. i would make software that makes playing video games more accessivle. but none of that is profitable, and i don't have the spoons outside of work to code.

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cute_spider_ni_srsly wrote

I wish I hadn't been pushed into coding for a living, since I would love to code outside of work but seriously cannot after a workday. I ought to be a plumber or hvac technician, but it feels hard to change over at this point. Plus that changeover would reduce my allocated resources by half.

I like the nest that I work in - I'm the sole developer for a system that tracks a company's data. When I'm pressured to do something quickly it's because the whole company is trying to change what it's doing quickly, which is okay.

But it does suck out a lot of my technology passion.

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musou wrote

the amount of terrible code i've shipped that's still running on servers years later really haunts me. and you're exactly right, when i log off at the end of the day the absolute last thing i want to do is look at my text editor for even one more minute. i've heard it said that the sign of being a professional is that you don't enjoy it anymore. i feel like the main thing keeping me in software is that i don't want to suck all the joy out of anything else i like to do, the way a career in software has sucked all the joy out of programming

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twovests wrote

It is seriously bonkers to me that people see advances in technology due to competition, clap their hands and go "That's the power of capitalism :)" and their thinking turns off right there and doesn't go any further.

Btw when will jstpst have stories? We need to compete

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ellynu wrote

if capitalism is efficient then how come google starts and then kills 800 products a year? checkmate capitalism.

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voxpoplar wrote (edited )

Replying to twovests (#10,283)

Also most of the bedrock technology that everything is based off was developed by NASA, the US Military, CERN, universities and the Soviet Union, not free market competition.

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hollyhoppet OP wrote

Replying to Dogmantra (#10,287)

i agree. the problem is in our current system a job like that is rough on your body and you don't get the support you need to manage the damage as you age because it's considered less skilled and well at least in the us the medical system is just fucked in general

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Dogmantra wrote

Replying to hollyhoppet (#10,294)

yeah definitely! I think something like that would ultimately be way too physical for me... but then teaching is honestly too physical for me because you're supposed to stand up when you're talking to the class and I can't stand up all day :/

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