> Like I imagine someone in the past loved their job walking each night through their city, lighting up the gas-powered street lights. And then one day someone else implemented electric street lights, and the first person lost the job they loved. But in the end, its about providing light to the city streets, no?

Lighting or extinguishing a gas lamp does not allow for creative expression.

Writing a program does.

The comparison is almost offensive.

> For the great majority of work, it is not about fun, but about doing something other people need or want.

Some of us write code for reasons that are not related to employment. The idea that someone else might find the software useful is speculative, and perhaps an expression of hubris; it's not the source of motivation.

> I put at least as much time, attention and effort as the "real" programmers do, but my time goes into thinking and precisely defining what I want, cutting it up into smaller logical modules, testing, identifying and fixing bugs, iterating all the time.

So does the time of the "real programmers".