ilc

At some level you need engineers to roughly accomplish the sane things.

I looked at the definition at Principal which is where I siy now at another firm.. and I've held at other firms... and it lines up. that's what I expect to do.

Work with director+ managers, show the way by being the way, etc. Very standard. I'd expect a bit higher tech bar... But bot hugely, it helps to convince people when you are stronger technically, it also helps with technical vision. You have to understand the details and own 'em. One small detail can turn your architecture upside down.... (Making push/pull choices is a classic issue, often with no good answer... but a bad one is possible, depending on constraints.)

.... I find it nice to see "Yup, that's what I'd sign up for." basically.

How do I find it: Daily driver for 9 months now, no regrets, love the board, and I've probably paid more for mine than anyone other than the creator :).

Hard to get going: I'm an ex-DataHand user. It was near instant for me. Took me a few hours to make the dvorak map usable for my old muscle memory. I made the dvorak map a pretty exact emulation of the OG Dvorak DH.

The adjustment time is real for most users. I've seen Injured highly motivated, injured users, move across in a weekend or two. Most people take 2-3 weeks? It really isn't bad considering the very well proven DH injury help.

Comfortable: It isn't your normal board... You make it what you need for comfort. There are different hand rests in the community, etc. I persoonally use a pair of gel wrist rests as my palm rests. I find them very comfy, :)

Fast: People are over 100 wpm. I am not a fast typist. I'm only 60-70 WPM usually, And I can hit it on sval.

The big thing I'd say is: Svalboard is more of a journey to your answer, than just a packaged answer, I'd also think about getting a 3D Printer if you don't have one. (I have 2 around, an A1 Mini and P1S.) Join the discord... the folks are friendly... and you'll find me there, as well as other users, etc,

Don't be afraid to to own your journey... I do not miss the other boards,,, and if your said "use one board." Svalboard is it for me I'm done.

I use a Svalboard now-a-days. For those looking for the modern Datahand... That's where it is. Same switch type, and much the same feel :)

Disclaimer: I do volunteer firmware work on Svalboard. (vial-qmk)

Already using it fine sir, and yeah... it is used for record setting ;)

I know I set one with it... I'm pretty sure Rav uses it. Many Rats do.

Inactive Fuel Rat here.

What they are saying is dead on. We will do what we can to rescue you, and the skill of some of the Rat's pilots is second to none. (I won't claim that of myself. But one of The Rats usually holds the Bubble -> Colonia speed record.)

The number of stories you end up with ratting is amazing... it is a wonderful thing to do. Especially when you have it all in Elite. Why not help others. Rescue can pretty challenging. And losing a rescue... really sucks :( (Code Reds - They are out of fuel, and on O2.)

"We've got fuel, you don't. Any questions?" - The Fuel Rats.

Odd, my dentist's hygenist complains that people who have their wisdom teeth suck at taking care of them in general.

Mine got pulled for good reason. They were severely impacted, and pushing other teeth out of alignment. (I can still feel that I have out of alignment teeth in the far back of my mouth.)

Not everyone should "keep their wisdom teeth." Sometimes... they gotta go.

Naw, I've seen enough hiring fads ;).

Then push for them.

For me the motivation is maybe not having to worry about breaking a hip if I fall.

... Take it from someone with celiac. You don't always feel it. I didn't for decades.

But it caught up with me. Really badly. And when I say badly, it nearly killed me. I got hypocalcima, and fuck me if it wasn't the most painful thing I ever endured. I've broken bones, etc. All that shit is child's play to every muscle in your body locking up and your body feeling like it is getting stabbed with needles all over. Thankfully once they give you calcium, it goes down. But... I was probably an hour or two away from dead, from asphyxiation.

I played with fire again, and caught it quicker the next time. But I had no concrete diagnosis. Now, I do.

Oh, as a bonus, I got the bones of an 85 year old woman with osteopenia.

Don't fuck with this shit internet stranger. Please.

n-1 is the rule I follow. So if asked today I'd look at 3.12.

I wish you could use Genera. If you like emacs/slime. You would see how much we lost :(

The prophylactic effect of this could actually be a real benefit when the org is small.

As it grows, this type of as system will break down anyways :)

It does and it doesn't.

Without an interchange of value, you can focus on the thing as the thing, instead of as a value exchange.

Contributing to something can be helping at the local church, or other things of value.

I don't consider the urge to help others a negative one. But one shouldn't measure. It is doing the thing to do it for whatever your reasons are, that matters.

If I choose to build something to help a kid walk, I am contributing to many things. And yet, I may get paid nothing, and not even care.

The key is to not over invest in work. Work is not life. Work is something you do to enable you to do the things, that are you life.

I enjoy programming. I program for a living. But, I also have riders on my employment contract that allow me to code outside of work, and enjoy that.

For others, it will be gaming, sailing, anything. The key is to fill that void that your work identity leaves behind with things that you do and control.

In doing so, you take control of your life. I am not perfect here, but because I can balance several different things... none of them control me fully, I control me.

Level ends up depending on two things:

Skill - Do you have the raw skills to do the task at hand.

Scope - What scope are you doing that task at.

Example:

- Setting up a single file server for your team, pretty easy, low effort.

- Setting up a file server / SAN to hold corporate data.

- Designing file servers for the core of your business operations.

- Doing that for a vendor, where your software and architecture choices will impact possibly impact N companies.

(Ironically the last two are closer than you think.)

But it isn't about setting up the file server software, it is about the scope, the size of the team you are likely leading, the impact of the decisions etc. Automation, repeatability, etc... Actually architect the thing instead of winging it...

The bigger the numbers get... the bigger the title, and the better, you better be, both as an engineer and as a human, willing to accept that you are wrong, and find that better answer... People are relying on you to deliver.

To answer the good part:

If you've used a normal linux distro and installed GNOME.. and then decided "That was dumb." and wanted to go back...and realize, you can't. There is no real way to get rid of Gnome sanely. (I can say the same of KDE and other massive packages.)

On Nix, I can, I just remove it from the configuration, and basically reapply my config. No damage done.

For tools I'll want to try out or maybe use 2 times in my life, I can just run them in shells that have them, and not add them.

This all adds up to a much more pleasant experience. I won't say flawless, but... it beats much of what is out there.

I do think people can take it to an extreme which isn't useful. I still have declarative dotfiles, unlike some.

But, for just managing the OS and packages. I've found nothing better. Realize: Things that are clusterfucks to package like python are still clustefucks. But... otherwise... 9/10 would install again, language can take a long walk off a short pier.

This matches what I see when I read the code base.

The biggest one is: There's 1001 poorly documented ways to do things.

So until you learn to read nix, have a nix LSP etc. It is a major PITA.

You can be reading a .nix file and be like... "What the ... is that?"

And sadly, you know you'll inflict it on some poor person later.

People have tried with things like guix and there's a few other Nix spinoffs.

The issue is that: Nix/NixOS is here and JUST good enough. So replacing it will be hard. What is come up with has to solve things so much better that the community who has invested in NixOS and others sees enough light that it is worth moving over.

That's gonna be rough. Given how hard nix (the language) is to deal with, I won't call it impossible, but... I will say, the successor is more likely to succeed if NixOS totally implodes, and I might go as far as to say... only if it implodes or offers substantial back compatibility so people can migrate.

No, because if you break a hip, you lose a ton of mobility, which will cause an avalanche of problems.

There is a reason CI/CD servers exist.

Heck there's a few pieces of software I work on that I can't build locally, I just push WIPs to CI/CD.

I could try to setup a CI/CD pipeline of my own, but it isn't worth the time.

In general, but sometimes commercial software can make life better.

I use the JetBrains IDEs, I have no issue paying for them, I can install them on as many machines as I need etc.

If I make more FOSS, by using a non FOSS tool, it is worth it to me.

I value clarity of licensing above all. The non-commercial, can't use it in military applications or can't use it to save puppies ware is the stuff I really hate.

Do I prefer FOSS, yes, do I try to cut back over to emacs and neovim every so often, yeah. Do I stay where I am for now, so I can be more productive... Yeah.

It isn't pedantic. It is the truth.

I personally won't touch non-commercial products. Mainly because I never know if what I am doing is commercial. If I'm doing open source work, but not getting paid, but there's a company involved.

Think about improving the keyboard you are using's firmware... Now what happens if that company is grateful and sends you a prototype of the next board to help them out. You are now getting something. Is it commercial?

Why the fuck do I want to think about this. I don't. So I just don't use this type of software, and I encourage others to think of commercial as broadly as possible, when considering using it.

I use all types of licenses including straight up commercial.

But I want to be clear: Their code, their right to license it. I respect that right. And that is why I won't use it.

That's ok, they'll just find another tax carve out.

VAT is the real answer. If people had to pay consumption taxes, the issue would go away. You have to spend the money somewhere.

This is already done by the construction and other seasonal industries.

And honestly, for the case of a construction worker, where working outside in the winter may not be feasible.... it makes sense.

Yes, some will work the winter. Some wont.

IMHO: Preventing abuse of UI is impossible, just like preventing piracy. All we can really do is make sure that the people who should get it, do.

Also, taking a severance package shouldn't impact UI. etc. All silly stuff. We want people with max incentive to apply to jobs and rejoin the workforce. The way we do that is keep them able to work (not homeless), and make them look for work... sounds like unemployment to me ;)

Back when I used "The Relaxation Response" I believe. Taught myself in 7th grade.

- Go some place with no distractions.

- Lay down, and let your muscles go limp.

- Close your eyes, and just focus on your breath. In through the nose, out through the mouth, nice and slowly. I'd often hold at full breath for a few seconds just to let everything settle.. this is not a hurry.

- Focus on relaxing your toes, then your feet, ankles, calves, etc up through your chest, now focus on your arms... let all the stress run out your fingers like rays. Finally focus on your head, and push the stress out through the top of your head, or fingers, which ever feels easier. I'll also push stress through my toes too. The key is to release the stress from your body and visualize it... visualize getting rid of the knots and stress.

Some days, you'll get up to your calves, some days with practice you can get your whole body. But even your toes is an accomplishment!

- Your body will tell you when you are done. It is hard to explain, but you will know, "I'm done." When you are, don't rush to sit up, let your body rest a moment eyes closed, then open your eyes, wait a moment, then sit up. (if you were actually well relaxed this may stop a faint.)

But much of this comes from listening to your body. The noise of life isn't what matters... just listening to your body, and helping it relax....

I use relaxation, as a way to force other things out. So if work comes up, out it goes. Relaxation gives me a central focus, which helps with the whole experience.

Review enough code, and even 2 + 2 can look sus.

Where's the operator overload? ;)

I understand a similar system is in place in other places in Western Europe.

I have no issue with it. But in a situation where my healthcare, etc is all riding on my job, the stakes are a bit higher.

That's the issue in the US, IMHO. I suspect there would be more businesses started if the risk was lower. Yeah, YOLOing is hard, but it is harder when you know your healthcare, and everything else is on the line.

Here's the thing:

There is a massive asymmetry between what a company that can afford to do 1000's of trials at a time to get what they want, and an individual who really can't afford to be culled and lose 2-4 months looking for another position.

Also if you've ever dealt with temp->perm situations, people can change when they go perm. It is a real issue.

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As an employee: I usually can tell if a company is bad, I don't need to work there 2-3 months to learn that.

So for me there's little to no benefit, and massive downsides in that I don't have ANY real safety net to jump to the next "internship".

Maybe in Europe where they have stronger employee protection, and also better healthcare I'd consider it. But in the US, I'll take every protection you give me.