The Tao of Programming (1987)
mit.edu
mit.edu
> Why are programmers rebellious? Because the management interferes too much.
> Why are the programmers resigning one by one? Because they are burnt out.
> Having worked for poor management, they no longer value their jobs.
The lesson is probably when you make your job out of your hobby, you lost your hobby and gained a job.
In that case, any job can pay rent for your life. It's just a question of whether you feel your life is worth the rent someone is willing to pay.
The difference between this job and others is that you are subsidizing the higher rent by covering the cost of your hobby time for them. You should consider reducing your perceived life rental income by the amount you're subsidizing and then compare jobs based on that unsubsidized amount.
You might stick with it anyways, or you might discover that there's better value to be had elsewhere.
edit: clarity.
It's just working itself that sucks.
AKA alienation of labor, as Marx put it:
> labor is external to the worker. It does not belong to his nature. He does not realize himself in his work, that he denies himself in it. That he does not feel at ease in it but rather unhappy. He does not develop free physical and mental energy in it... The worker is only himself when he does not work, and in his work he feels outside himself. He feels at home when he’s not working. When working he does not feel at home...His labor is not voluntary but forced.
tl;dr:
> You don't hate Mondays, you hate capitalism.
Compare https://www.econlib.org/socialism-the-failed-idea-that-never...
2. There were bosses in the USSR, called party members. Someone needs to manage.
3. Decreased motivation for high performance due to smaller "CEO"/common laborer wage gaps.
4. Inability of USSR to compete in both consumer goods and other areas except in a few focus points (mainly military) such as - small scale nuclear, rocket propulsion, certain areas of medicine, certain sports (far more actual research done than in the US), cavitating torpedoes, stealth subs, IR seekers, thermobarics, fighter wing leading edge vacuum generation from the SU27 copied in the F-15/MIG29, VTOL lift, etc
P.S. - I do agree with your parent comment.
They say, "I like all music except Country. I hate Country." And you say, "So you hate Johnny Cash?" And they say, "Oh. No, I like Johnny Cash. But I hate the rest of Country."
This is the Tao of Labels.
More likely, you hate modern hyper-specialized ways of production (in the broadest sense). Capitalism is what brought that mode of production about, but it's a prerequisite for any economic system that wants to be productive.
I think market socialism is a great idea and we should move towards it. I also think that it can occasionally give us all more agency, by increasing the power of employee representation and participation in firms.
However, I have little hope that it will truly move the needle on subjective/perceived alienation from our work for most people.
Previous discussion on the topic: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8036547
I get it -- it's written in an old style. And I don't want to censor art.
SO -- I made a "mod" for the book, that randomizes the pronouns each time. https://xtao.stream
Still a WIP -- want to add more info/motivation to the site before really releasing it, but I wanted to share here & would love any feedback.. expecting downvotes.. ;)
It's an interesting approach to the "relevancy update" without suppressing or censoring the original. I -really- don't want to be the person breaking penises off statues or changing the edit so Han shoots in defense.
This is not rewriting of truth. This is Counter-Strike vs. Half-Life. An original-source-available remix.
I could still get rid of a lot though if I wanted to.
>> No: atlases, catalogues, computer books, comic books, condensed books, exercise, erotica, magazines, journals, art catalogues, outdated business books, romance novels, and textbooks.
This is an underexplored cultural shift I think. In the past your books and your music on LP or CD and your movies on DVD or VHS were part of the decor, usually on prominent display in the living room, the room of the house where guests were entertained. Even your games carts for your console would be in that display. Seeing what was in your host's collection was a part of getting to know them better, and of course, they might choose to curate their collection knowing it would be perused by visitors. That doesn't happen so much any more, for some people, it has never been a part of their experience. I wonder what has replaced it.
Although I am proudly the second type, I understand that many people are the first type. They don't really care that much about this stuff that to me feels fundamental, so they have no issue with things not really being theirs.
And in a way, they are right. While year after year I'm burdened by being the archivist of my own possessions, there are many people that just live unencumbered by such things.
Kind of like code, I guess.
One technical solution I have given a lot of thought is to achieve a tangible representation of books, music and photo albums as small printed cards. These cards should then be recognizable by your media devices (e-readers, audio-players,...) via QR codes or RFID tags. Think putting on a playlist by dumping a bunch of music cards on your player, etc.
*
I think at least have some story of debugging like dissect of the ox in zhungzi like
in the beginning I hack the code with hardship, strgguking all the time with upgrades and ... finally I do not see the problem and I can fix whatsoever with whatever language. There is no language just me freely hack around and the problem is solved without even the problem aware its own existence and just disappear.
Or
the Tao generate zero, zero follow by one abd with that the world is totally with us etc.
"An operating system," replied the programmer.
The warlord uttered an exclamation of disbelief. "Surely an accounting package is trivial next to the complexity of an operating system," he said.
"Not so," said the programmer, "When designing an accounting package, the programmer operates as a mediator between people having different ideas: how it must operate, how its reports must appear, and how it must conform to the tax laws. By contrast, an operating system is not limited by outside appearances. When designing an operating system, the programmer seeks the simplest harmony between machine and ideas. This is why an operating system is easier to design."
The warlord of Wu nodded and smiled. "That is all good and well, but what about the rants on lkml?"
Saying this to self often helps when making a career move, or an important decision in life, etc. Or when you are refactoring your code.
The Master is the universe. Life is a trip visiting from Temples to Temples.
We practice Programming because we are Disciples.
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WhenYouSnatchThe...
(Unfortunately the printed version has pages of pseudo-Chinese text that look like "A U E I A A U E E I O A E" if you can recognize a bit of the language.)
Having worked beneath its sheltering branches for years, and been dumped on by the big bird from HQ numerous times - it is just the best and worst.
If all the craziness can be ignored it can be bliss, I just never managed to reach the tao.
Even so it is also the type of setting where you can work completely sheltered from the real world, on problems you find interesting, without worry.
If you can separate “care for” from “interesting” and find a decent middle manager - tao can seem close by.