Mastodawn

@cx7 Then, they should go talk to ex-IT folks who switched to farming. It can be a good move, but better if the romanticism is stripped out first. For some, it's been good, others okay, and there's many a disaster.

@alan Yeah, both IT & farming come with struggles—no job is easy. But let’s be real, most devs just complain, not cultivate.

@cx7 As someone who has been writing code for a very, very long time and who has seen many friends leave the field, I think trading coding for farming is just trading one thing that can quickly drive you crazy for something that can slowly drive you crazy. There are plenty of other pursuits that are less demanding and more rewarding than either.

@alan So basically, we’re all doomed no matter what we pick😨

@cx7 I know someone who went into building houses and is possibly the happiest one I know. Another is in landscaping and stonework he's fit as a fiddle and worst case his day ends when the sun sets. There are options; many of them not at the endpoints of sanity.

@alan honestly, I don’t think I’d be happy building houses, landscaping, or doing stonework. I’m more at home with my PC and coding. I think the key is to choose what you love—everyone’s journey is unique, and happiness comes from doing what you’re passionate about. Thanks for sharing your perspective, Sir!

@cx7 Yep. This is why I've been writing code for half a century too. Less now, but still, can't keep away from it.

Kerrick Long (code)Feb 22, 2025

@alan @cx7 I bought a farm and left my tech job to try and run/grow it. My cow died, my heifer was ill-behaved and went to the sale barn, my bee hives underwent sudden colony collapse, my wife’s flowers never sold enough to pay for the inputs & infrastructure, and my wife and I now both walk with a cane some days.

All of this in less than five years. My wife and I are back to software engineering now.

@kerrick @cx7 Exactly. Farming is a hell of a lot harder than it looks, and there's so many variables that can't be controlled, many of which lead to disaster. Whenever someone seriously talks about moving from IT to farming, I suggest they spend some time working a farm on weekends, etc. before just buying one.

@kerrick @alan Damn, that sounds rough. Farming is no joke, It’s crazy how different it is from coding. If you don’t mind me asking, what made you want to switch from software engineering to farming in the first place?

Kerrick Long (code)Feb 22, 2025

@cx7 @alan It’s a long story that involves Homesteading YouTube channels, a move into management, an acquisition, and misguided ambition.

@cx7 Yeah then we remember we chose a job sitting down in the warm playing with computers for a reason.

@freequaybuoy Sitting at a desk beats chasing the cows any day😂

@cx7 I'm sorry, rise at when you say? Dawn??

@freequaybuoy Dawn? I’m too busy harvesting bugs🐛

@cx7 It's back breakpointing work

@freequaybuoy and coding’s mind-breaking, lol. Yesterday, I was messing with Groovy code and had to set Docker env variables (DockerHub username + pass). Accidentally added a space at the end of the username, and guess what? Took me 2 freakin’ hours to figure out why my code wasn’t working. So annoying! But still, I’d take coding over anything else. Sitting at home, working in PJs, and avoid the outside world lol😂

@cx7 This is timely - my boss just asked me to look at Docker for some things. Another reason for our kind of stuff I'm not overly convinced we need an extra layer of complexity.

@freequaybuoy yeah, Docker can be a blessing and a curse. It’s great when it works, but debugging it can be a nightmare. Still, it beats farming, right?

@cx7 Ah oh yes quite. Although, might get a chicken, sell a few eggs and retire.