5 ms·
Every programmer eventually becomes a woodworker, whether they like it or not.
by moffkalast 4y ago
Every programmer eventually becomes a woodworker, whether they like it or not.
- barbazoo 4y agoSome of them become blacksmiths as I recently learned.
- Apocryphon 4y agoWonder how hard it is to get started with glassblowing
- ElfinTrousers 4y agoThe late Ezra Zygmuntowicz was a glassblower by training and trade long before starting Engineyard.
- mmcgaha 4y agoYou should visit the coast of Maine this summer and find out: https://www.haystack-mtn.org/ https://www.haystack-mtn.org/
- coldpie 4y agoAs a hobbyist? Not hard at all! If you're in a medium/large city, there's almost certainly one or two glassblowing studios around that have classes. As a career? That's a whole lot harder.
- 83 4y agoIf you aren't a homeowner the facilities are the hard part. Need a large space where you can have a glass furnace and concrete floors that won't get damaged by molten glass. Lampworking is easier to get started in, but still need a place to run a torch (ideally with a vent hood) and store oxygen/propane cylinders.
- itronitron 4y agoDefinitely go to a glassblowing camp if you are interested. If you have prior experience trying to control a fluid medium, like pottery for example, then that may help. In order to set up your own shop you'll want to be somewhere with low fuel costs.
- faluzure 4y agoTotally. As a software engineer, I own an anvil. Smashing things with a hammer is very cathartic.
- anthomtb 4y agoI worked with one developer who became a master electrician. He was experienced and intelligent but obviously burnt out on software. And he sure seemed happier when I ran into him a couple years after making that career transition.
- sumtechguy 4y agoMy uncle who had a nice very senior eng job ago dipped out and walked into a plumber shop saw the help wanted sign in the window and they hired him on the spot. He then did that for 25 years until he retired. He said it was nice that the jobs were short and the outcome was usually very predictable but gross on many occasions.
- Syntonicles 4y agoIf this is a joke, it's gone over my head. What are you saying?
- michaelbuckbee 4y agoWoodworking is a popular hobby with developers; at some level at least they're both about creating things. The "eventually" part is a nod towards retirement and then joking not having a choice.
- Apocryphon 4y agoFrom what I heard back during the dot com bust bartending was somewhat similar. Perhaps these days it'd be mixology, or attempting to become a sommelier.
- MarkMarine 4y agoI enjoy woodworking because it's something I can do with my hands that has a definite beginning and end, unlike most software which is often never really done. I find the completion of these whole projects very cathartic.
- twosdai 4y agoI think I've heard this exact response from other developers who turned to wood working. It's a common plus side.
- greedo 4y agoI like the fact that it produces something tangible and (hopefully) long lasting. None of the systems I've set up between 2000-2015 are still alive; so much time and effort lost.
- racl101 4y ago> Woodworking is a popular hobby with developers huh? TIL. Most devs I know live in condos and have no chance of having a place to do woodworking. Maybe it's a regional thing.
- __jambo 4y agoHaha, are you suggesting all products eventually break and we resort to solving problems with small hand-crafted turing machines made of sticks?
- moffkalast 4y agoWell I'm not saying that the most satisfying way to bash a server isn't with a meticulously lathed bat.
- forgotusername6 4y agoI had a colleague leave to become a carpenter, then return after a few years when they realised that it's hard physical work that can be bad for your lungs.
- RangerScience 4y agoApparently a lot of us also like really old books? (mmmm 1910 manual on steel production.)
- palmtree3000 4y agoWait, can you link to that?
- RangerScience 4y agoFinally remembered! It's a copy of this: https://www.forgottenbooks.com/en/books/CompositionandHeatTreatmentofSteel_10004513 https://www.forgottenbooks.com/en/books/CompositionandHeatTr... Mine is a dark red hardback, printed by McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1911.
- RangerScience 4y ago(this comment to be replaced by a link or other information as soon as I remember to put the book in my hand when I'm next standing near it)
- mywittyname 4y agoSeriously? I mean, I have a collection of very old engineering books, including one on Petroleum Refinery Engineering and a Reinforced Concrete Design Handbook printed when text books where $2. But I had no idea this was a "thing" among developers.
- RangerScience 4y agoApparently. I went into the Last Bookstore in Los Angeles, found that manual, and... had to have it. Didn't understand why. Mentioned that to the clerk, who said: "You're a software developer, aren't you? A lot of you have that reaction." So, very very anecdotally: yep it's a thing.
- otikik 4y agoWood does not suddenly change its weight by 10000% in the middle of a project.
- meese712 4y ago"Sorry I missed your comment of many months ago. I no longer build software; I now make furniture out of wood. The hours are long, the pay sucks, and there's always the opportunity to remove my finger with a table saw, but nobody asks me if I can add an RSS feed to a DBMS, so there's that :-)"
- ayewo 4y agoIn case anyone needs additional context: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24541964 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24541964
- danbmil99 4y agoFunny story - a good friend who was doing high-end cabinetry lost a finger to a table saw, so he boned up on his coding skills and got a great job in the film FX business.