This is exactly what I wanted to know, thanks. As someone with a CS master's I almost wish there was an alternate PhD path where you didn't have to do research

This is exactly what I wanted to know, thanks. As someone with a CS master's I almost wish there was an alternate PhD path where you didn't have to do research, like a Masters++ program. There were many classes I never got to take for my degree, like in category theory or AI or distributed databases. Some of the PhDs in this thread have said they tried $BigTechCo and found it boring, but to me that just means you were working at the wrong company or on the wrong project. I feel like my master's equipped me to be able to read and study theoretical computer science at a high level, that the PhD program would be a strain on me and my family without much reward. Although I do daydream about being independently wealthy and getting a master's in mathematics just for fun