tanteMay 7

"There are no more juniors. There was a funeral for their passing in 2024. Nobody came. The machine does what they do now, but cheaper. Of course, juniors weren't valuable for what they produced, they were valuable for who they would become: the senior engineer who knows where the bodies are buried. We optimized for output, and abolished apprenticeship. A few years from now, we'll wonder where all the seniors are. We shot them. Nobody will remember."

https://www.stvn.sh/writing/programming-still-sucks-fqffhyp

Programming Still Sucks. — Writing

Sorry Peter. — I'm at a birthday party, and while most people here also work in tech, there's always a Guy with a Real Job. You know, a physical job, building some or other thing people need. And this Guy always asks some variant of the same question: aren't you worried AI is taking your job? I glance around and see a few faces turning around toward us, rolling their eyes ever so slightly before returning to their previous conversation. Yes, this question again.

Show threadSteven 🏳️‍🌈
@tante oh hey I wrote this! Thanks for sharing!
May 7 at 3:06pmWeb
Show threadArmin HanischMay 7
@stevendotjs @tante Thanks for writing this and congratulations on your craftsmanship with words! Hits the perfect tone and while English is not my first language, reading this was pure bliss.
Made it out of programming (it’s just a hobby now) and glad about that. 😎
Show threadSteven 🏳️‍🌈May 7
@Linkshaender @tante ahw thank you! Happy for you you made it out! If you wanna tell me about it, I'm all ears.
Show threadArmin HanischMay 7
@stevendotjs @tante I‘ll do, just need a little time to explain why I actually still like to program as a hobby and why you’re right nonetheless.
Show threadArmin HanischMay 10

@stevendotjs @tante Wrote a blog post about the reason programming is still fun, but just a hobby for me now. Let's call it a shift in seeing purpose. It's all about people.
As English ist not my native language I tried my best and then used Deepl and Kagi Translate to make it into something readable (both of them had astonishingly few corrections 🤗). Let me hear what you think of this, please.

https://www.arminhanisch.de/2026/05/programming-is-now-only-a-hobby/

Why Programming Is Still Fun, but It’s Just a Hobby Now

Why Programming Is Still Fun, But It’s Just a Hobby Now I used to be a software developer. I even trained other software developers and gave talks at conferences. For a few years now, I’ve only been programming as a hobby. This wasn’t an active “escape” from software development, but rather a realization and a desire to learn something new again. Keep reading if you want to know what I actually find interesting about programming and why coding ("vibe" or not) is only a small part of it.

Show threadSteven 🏳️‍🌈May 11
@Linkshaender @tante ok I made a start and it's excellent so far! I'll read more tonight when my little one is in bed.
Show threadArmin HanischMay 11
@stevendotjs @tante Take your time, our „little one“ turns 21 this summer and if I think back it can only be weeks ago she learned to walk. 😆😂
Show threadtanteMay 7
@stevendotjs it's fantastic! Thanks for writing it
Show threadJoy_intlMay 7

@stevendotjs i applaud you, kind sir
- I hilariously joined a web dev program in 2022, and when I completed it in 2024, I could see it was pointless trying to get a job as a Jr..

Your story resonates (also bc I'm a career changer so old enough to have other experiences that are similar) - it's both hilarious and stark.

Well done 👏

@tante

Show threadSteven 🏳️‍🌈May 7
@Joy_intl @tante I... I'm so sorry. I'm glad you realized what was happening, cut your losses and did the right thing, but damn that's harsh.
Show threadJoy_intlMay 7

@stevendotjs i feel for my cohort who tried to move forward by going for their masters.. I hope it works for them. I hope there are enough companies who see the mess AI creates cannot be trusted.. but humans tend to take the path of least resistance..

In truth, I was never a coder, so let's hope I can find other ways to feed myself and my family.. it's rough out here for everyone.

@tante

Show threadSteven 🏳️‍🌈May 7

@Joy_intl @tante it really is, I have a fiance and newborn to provide for as well, and it's making me anxious.

Take care ❤️ reach out for help if it becomes too much please 🙏

Show threadJoy_intlMay 7

@stevendotjs That is very kind. I return your kindness and encouragement. We humans do better when we act in solidarity.

✊️

@tante

Show threadD2May 7

@stevendotjs kudos. so very on point.

Having ridden out the implosion of the dot-com crash, I’m staring at all this buildout and wondering what this time smells like. Capital spend crushed a few big names. Example: Lucent went to a nickel on the dollar.

Show threadSteven 🏳️‍🌈May 7

@InkomTech oh yeah, pulling up a chair to roast marshmallows over the bonfire.

And thanks ❤️🙏

Show threadD2May 7
@stevendotjs I don’t fear dioxin nor microplastics, but I ain’t eating anything cooked over that blaze.
Show threadDale HagglundMay 7

@stevendotjs @tante Great article... I checked out out the link and the pckt.blog page mentioned there but I only saw this article: I'd love to read more of your writing, either past or future.

I started work as a full-time software dev in 1988 (or a few years earlier if you count summer jobs), and I was lucky enough to enjoy it pretty much through to retirement a few years ago, right around the first chatgpt release. One of the parts I found most personally fulfilling was mentoring younger devs (which definitely included me learning from them and them challenging my old-guy reflexes) and to see what's happened in the very few years since is profoundly discouraging...

And thanks for @tante for forwarding this...

Show threadSteven 🏳️‍🌈May 7

@DaleHagglund @tante oh man yeah congrats on getting out in time!

My site is honestly barely half finished, I wasn't really expecting this to go anywhere, and this was the first thing I published in years. I'll be sure to keep writing ❤️🙏

Show threadDale HagglundMay 7

@stevendotjs @tante Thanks, and I'll look forward to more articles. As far as retiring, I can't claim any any special foresight; it was just the right time to leave for various reasons. Without at all realizing it at the time, I just happened to be in the industry at a time when software devs had substantial power versus management, if we chose to use it. It was much closer to retirement, and more-so in the years since, that I started to realize that was historically unusual, and changing rapidly for the worse in software.

Every now and then I read articles by a couple software dev bloggers I trust who are, I think, looking carefully at *how* to use LLMs in a way that might (just maybe) set devs up to be "centaurs", ie the drivers of technology, versus Doctorow's "reverse-centaurs", ie, meat-puppets directed by the system a la Amazon drivers. I don't have any particular faith that those can be achieved in any broad sense in the current context of the industry, though...