3 ms·

How can learning of your tools being below your pay grade? Ability to use tools properly is a prerequisite for any professional. That sounds very weird to me.

whateveracct 4y ago
Software development is full of anti-intellectualism and friends. So many "professionals" don't think they should Learn New Things. Said "professionals" tend to be excellent org chart climbers otoh.
- alpaca128 4y ago
  People don't have enough time in their life to learn about everything they touch and need to say no to some things to get anything done. Maybe those professionals want to learn tools for their actual job instead of fighting with the platform underneath. Just like artists want to draw, not learn how to fix their graphic tablet's broken driver.
  - palata 4y ago
    Well, a painter probably knows a thing or two about the paint and the canvas, and a musician knows a thing or two about their instrument and... well... music theory. Doesn't sound crazy to expect a software developer to know a thing or two about their system. Not necessarily down to the device tree, of course. But being stuck at "learning to use a terminal is below my pay grade" feels like the other extreme to me.
  - whateveracct 4y ago
    Most of the learning I'm talking about is like an hour of work. But the resistance doesn't even let people get to that point.
Arbortheus 4y ago
An operating system isn’t a tool, it’s a means to an end. It’s like saying it’s bad I don’t know how all the internal components of my car work because I rely on my car to get to work. As far as I am concerned, my operating system is a black box for interacting with VSCode, Slack, Outlook, Firefox, and use a terminal in a user-friendly way. I don’t care how it works, its components, or how it is constructed. I certainly don’t expect to have to fix it - making the operating system reliable and user-friendly is someone else’s job.
pjmlp 4y ago
Most people don't want to be mechanics just to drive to get groceries.
- vbezhenar 4y ago
  My grandfather was truck driver. He knew his truck as his fingers. He could reassemble drive of his car at weekends. If he wouldn't possess skills to repair his truck, he would die somewhere on the winter road when that truck breaks, so it's not even question of preference, it's question of survivability. It's not as drastic for programmers, but I, personally, trying to keep that attitude myself and I'm trying to learn systems I'm using to some degree.
  - pjmlp 4y ago
    I bet most people aren't going to the local supermarket on a long distance truck.

whateveracct 4y ago

Software development is full of anti-intellectualism and friends. So many "professionals" don't think they should Learn New Things. Said "professionals" tend to be excellent org chart climbers otoh.

alpaca128 4y ago
People don't have enough time in their life to learn about everything they touch and need to say no to some things to get anything done. Maybe those professionals want to learn tools for their actual job instead of fighting with the platform underneath. Just like artists want to draw, not learn how to fix their graphic tablet's broken driver.
- palata 4y ago
  Well, a painter probably knows a thing or two about the paint and the canvas, and a musician knows a thing or two about their instrument and... well... music theory. Doesn't sound crazy to expect a software developer to know a thing or two about their system. Not necessarily down to the device tree, of course. But being stuck at "learning to use a terminal is below my pay grade" feels like the other extreme to me.
- whateveracct 4y ago
  Most of the learning I'm talking about is like an hour of work. But the resistance doesn't even let people get to that point.

Arbortheus 4y ago

An operating system isn’t a tool, it’s a means to an end. It’s like saying it’s bad I don’t know how all the internal components of my car work because I rely on my car to get to work. As far as I am concerned, my operating system is a black box for interacting with VSCode, Slack, Outlook, Firefox, and use a terminal in a user-friendly way. I don’t care how it works, its components, or how it is constructed. I certainly don’t expect to have to fix it - making the operating system reliable and user-friendly is someone else’s job.

pjmlp 4y ago

Most people don't want to be mechanics just to drive to get groceries.

vbezhenar 4y ago
My grandfather was truck driver. He knew his truck as his fingers. He could reassemble drive of his car at weekends. If he wouldn't possess skills to repair his truck, he would die somewhere on the winter road when that truck breaks, so it's not even question of preference, it's question of survivability. It's not as drastic for programmers, but I, personally, trying to keep that attitude myself and I'm trying to learn systems I'm using to some degree.
- pjmlp 4y ago
  I bet most people aren't going to the local supermarket on a long distance truck.