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I always say 'Software Developer'. If you say, 'Computer Programmer' then they picture someone tinkering with computers, if you say 'Developer' or 'Engineer' t

I always say 'Software Developer'. If you say, 'Computer Programmer' then they picture someone tinkering with computers, if you say 'Developer' or 'Engineer' they don't know it's anything to do with computers or software. What really annoys me, is when people respond with 'Oh right, I.T.' or 'I have a friend who does I.T. too, yeah he fixes computers at... ' - I personally see being a 'Software Developer' as a far higher position than someone doing 1st line support in I.T.

mryall 16y ago
> What really annoys me, is when people respond with 'Oh right, I.T.' or 'I have a friend who does I.T. too, yeah he fixes computers at... ' You shouldn't let this get to you. These people are just trying to relate to you based on this new information. To someone outside an industry, most people in it can appear to do the same thing. Just think: how many types of airplane mechanics/portrait artists/theoretical physicists can you identify? To people in these and many other industries, I'm sure there's an incredible variety of roles and job descriptions.
- PaulJoslin 16y ago
  I understand this. I just smile when they make the comparison, after all at least they are caring enough to ask and listen. - On a similar note, the word 'Hacker' on this forum, generally refers to someone who lives and breathes code. However, outside of this community many refer to the term 'Hacker' as being a malicious person. Therefore, whenever I have mentioned the 'Hacker News' community to anyone in my profession they usually look at me as if I've just admitted to partaking in criminal activities. Perhaps it's just a British thing?
  - derefr 16y ago
    Perhaps localize the name to "Boffin News"?
    - Zev 16y ago
      Innocuous News! (see: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=575815 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=575815)
Goladus 16y ago
I personally see being a 'Software Developer' as a far higher position than someone doing 1st line support in I.T. That "friend who fixes computers at..." may not actually be first line support IT like you're assuming. Even if he is a System Administrator rather than a Software Developer, that doesn't say anything about the level of the position. A 3rd-level software developer playing with eclipse making minor modifications to existing Java and writing features under close supervision from a senior developer is much less valuable than a 10th-level System Administrator with a proven track record of diagnosing production bugs, managing deployments, tuning applications like Apache, Oracle, MySQL, and building stable, scalable environments for the developers and QA.

mryall 16y ago

> What really annoys me, is when people respond with 'Oh right, I.T.' or 'I have a friend who does I.T. too, yeah he fixes computers at... ' You shouldn't let this get to you. These people are just trying to relate to you based on this new information. To someone outside an industry, most people in it can appear to do the same thing. Just think: how many types of airplane mechanics/portrait artists/theoretical physicists can you identify? To people in these and many other industries, I'm sure there's an incredible variety of roles and job descriptions.

PaulJoslin 16y ago
I understand this. I just smile when they make the comparison, after all at least they are caring enough to ask and listen. - On a similar note, the word 'Hacker' on this forum, generally refers to someone who lives and breathes code. However, outside of this community many refer to the term 'Hacker' as being a malicious person. Therefore, whenever I have mentioned the 'Hacker News' community to anyone in my profession they usually look at me as if I've just admitted to partaking in criminal activities. Perhaps it's just a British thing?
- derefr 16y ago
  Perhaps localize the name to "Boffin News"?
  - Zev 16y ago
    Innocuous News! (see: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=575815 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=575815)

Goladus 16y ago

I personally see being a 'Software Developer' as a far higher position than someone doing 1st line support in I.T. That "friend who fixes computers at..." may not actually be first line support IT like you're assuming. Even if he is a System Administrator rather than a Software Developer, that doesn't say anything about the level of the position. A 3rd-level software developer playing with eclipse making minor modifications to existing Java and writing features under close supervision from a senior developer is much less valuable than a 10th-level System Administrator with a proven track record of diagnosing production bugs, managing deployments, tuning applications like Apache, Oracle, MySQL, and building stable, scalable environments for the developers and QA.