I think at some level there is a problem of mission and purpose. A military unit needs to believe what they are doing is important, like they are saving the cou

I think at some level there is a problem of mission and purpose. A military unit needs to believe what they are doing is important, like they are saving the country, protecting its citizens and so on. After the Cold War, I'd imagine, the strategic nuclear forces probably ended up losing some of that "mission" and "purpose" and at least informally became more irrelevant. That has to take an emotional toll on everyone involved. You go to work deep down in a bunker, follow a 1000 little rules and procedures, deal with lots of red tape, outdated technology and so on, but you don't really believe your actions today are protecting or saving anyone. I think there is probably a parallel there with software maintenance. There are a lot of developers keeping alive and maintaining old code. Most written in languages which are not cool anymore. Nobody on HN is boasting making cool apps with them, others make fun of it. And there you are having to write patches and manage updates and so on it. The software is keeping the business alive and you are getting paid, but it is hard to feel proud and boast about your "cool project you are working on" during meetups or conferences. I would imagine that takes some toll as well on a person.