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20 year industry vet here. Yeah, no thank you. In the age of AI, developer productivity and job security will involve your proprietary workflow. It no longer

20 year industry vet here. Yeah, no thank you. In the age of AI, developer productivity and job security will involve your proprietary workflow. It no longer makes sense to share your knowledge with the world. I'd highly advise people don't do this.

lolakutty 9d ago
> involve your proprietary workflow. Until the next model update...
- hackmack10 9d ago
  This is true. I also think part of your job security will be constantly racing on this treadmill to make sure you're able to incorporate that next model (if applicable). Meaning incorporate your tools, existing knowledge, harnesses, configs etc...
deleted 9d ago
[deleted]
twKrash 9d ago
20 years ? already vet ? I though that I'm still young :)
yokoprime 9d ago
I've also worked 20 years in the industry, and if feel completely the opposite. Having a great setup and pipeline that works for you is a huge plus, but nothing can replace the intuition and knowhow you have built up with experience. Sharing is still caring, and we should not stop caring
- hackmack10 9d ago
  Serious question, why? Nobody gives a fuck if I'm out of a job, especially OpenAI and Anthropic. They stole the worlds knowledge to put us out of a job and arguably took away what it means to be a human. Why should I contribute anything more to that? Solving hard problems will be the only thing that separates you from others. Your mindset and tools should be a trade secret at this point.
  - adrianwaj 8d ago
    It's a great point. At 36, Steve House released a video in 2006 about all his climbing equipment (someone talked him into it.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCKK-e4gVVA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCKK-e4gVVA (reupload) I thinked he helped a lot of people with that video in the super competitive world of mountaineering. This was after a legendary ascent of Nanga Parbat. May well have shot himself in the foot but also cemented his status as YT was taking off at the time. Moreover, I think he likes/liked teaching. A year or two ago there were some very precise workflows documented here. The reluctance now would mark the transition away from "sharing helps me" to "sharing hinders me" ...it's an interesting topic. Sharing with strangers may be the problem because the favour will never be returned - at least not in a direct way. But, metaphysically according to natural laws it might be. Because sharing a valuable secret openly is such a powerful way to express abundance. It grants someone followers. It also prevents people from filing a patent on it. 4 years later House survived a 25m climbing fall. It's all about one's internal motivation. "Those that can, do, and those that can't, teach." Well, what happens if "those that can," actually teach? Just imagine if all sporting stars shared their secrets.. what would happen? Secrets just occur naturally, if you don't share, they'll likely be stolen unless protected - and that requires effort too.
  - evdubs 8d ago
    You're not going to lose your job because you shared your AI setup / tools with your colleagues. You're going to lose your job because management over-hired and is being pressured by shareholders to reduce employee salary expenses. It won't matter what hard problem solving moat you think you have if management is forced to have layoffs and you're in an unlucky situation. If you're worried about job security, you should consider joining a union and not be fixated on knowledge sharing.
    - akoboldfrying 8d ago
      > It won't matter what hard problem solving moat you think you have This is false on its face. There's a reason why a company, even today, would hire John Carmack over a person with no reputation, or offer him a higher salary if employing both people. Unionising is definitely something worth considering. But, as with the question of whether it's better to compete or cooperate with other people in your field, is a nuanced question that depends on details you aren't acknowledging.
- twKrash 9d ago
  completely agree. Same 20 years in the industry
- ingsoc79 8d ago
  6 months ago I would have agreed wholeheartedly with you. Lately however I've observed coworkers vibe coding massive band-aids over broader architectural issues in our codebase without any prior context. They have no understanding of (nor any desire to understand) what they're doing, but they are being given kudos by management for their "initiative" to solve the organization's "big problems." Guess who will be asked to clean up the mess if (when) it blows up. It's getting cheaper and cheaper to kick the can down the road, and standing in front of that risks making you look like a dinosaur. It's going to be an interesting few years...
  - jesterson 8d ago
    I have exactly same observations and perspective. Seeing how these kids walk around with smug faces telling everyone they will "do IT now" just because claude told them so and manament wants ai everywhere made me sad at first, but then hey - everything this world keeps being destroyed, no matter how intelligent creators were. Perhaps there is some fundamental law in it.
- corv 8d ago
  I'm also tending towards the generous stance: 1. The value of software is tending towards nil while it's ever easier to tailor bespoke solutions. That suggests to me that I'm losing less by sharing, and it's probably not even going to be taken wholesale and kept verbatim. 2. The labs have already trained on everything and will keep on doing so. Therefore continuing to contribute to OSS doesn't just benefit my own future self but the entire ecosystem. (Yes, I need to get over how it appears a select few are making off with the lion's share but that only differs in degree in comparison to the past) At least now the cards are being shuffled elsewhere...
deleted 9d ago
[deleted]
mystifyingpoi 9d ago
Two years ago, I'd consider this attitude as ungrateful. Today, this attitude is 100% correct and I slowly start to be like that. People might think I'm a dick, I don't care, my tools, my knowledge, my job security. I actually recently thought of nuking the entire IaC setup and go back to shell scripts on random virtual machines. Too bad that Claude can figure things like that out pretty easily. Well, the world sucks now.
- zormino 9d ago
  I've landed here as well, but by force. I've actually tried to share some of the productivity and workflow tools I've built with AI that help automate portions of my work, specifically on target firmware debugging, and everyone at work just...ignored it. Didnt care. Of the small number of people who even stopped to look, a few of them were actively negative. Maybe I didnt sell it hard enough, but my job isnt to sell productivity tools internally (or even make them, i did it for myself). So, I'll keep making myself more productive and build tools for myself. And everyone else will just have to figure out their own path. I tried to help, but oh well.
- bbor 8d ago
  People might think I'm a dick, I don't care, my tools, my knowledge, my job security. If you're feeling ponderous, I'd ask you to consider the outlandish hypothetical that this doesn't win you meaningful[1] job security, and you end up in the same bucket o' crabs as the rest of us. Would you regret your current actions? [1]: anywhere from the fathomable "my harness didn't come up in my layoff email nor in any of my failed interviews following that" to the realistic "the entire concept of employment shifted under our feet so quickly and so profoundly that a dash of solidarity & luck outweighed even the shrewdest preparations".
  - joquarky 8d ago
    What is job security? Who even offers this?
    - mystifyingpoi 8d ago
ls-a 9d ago
[dead]
qurren 9d ago
Exactly this. I've worked hard year after year, paid too much taxes, and still haven't gotten job security in return. Living costs are still rising. No thanks to sharing anything for free. Maybe once I have retirement levels of money, and when I'm not actually working for the money, I'll be interested in sharing.
deadbabe 8d ago
Exactly. In fact, hiring may be conducted almost entirely based on what kind of tools and skills you build that no one else really has access to.
bbor 8d ago
You should check the provenance and licenses of your dependencies -- I bet there's a few irrational gifts in there from the nerds in the "open source" community ;) Or, in SVese: are you a taker or a maker?
pasteleft 8d ago
This is really disappointing. I love programming community because they just share or open(-source) their knowledge with an absolute no cost. There's tons of resources about how to build a OS, DB, Apps, etc. I'm curious why would you think differently about AI workflows.
- antonvs 8d ago
  > they just share or open(-source) their knowledge with an absolute no cost. You need to consider how they were able to do that. For many people, it’s because they had highly paid, secure jobs that essentially funded their open source activity.l, even if only as a side project or personal project. If you take away that security and reliable funding, you destroy the environment that supported people sharing like that.
internet2000 8d ago
There's zero chance you have some secret sauce a motivated employer / your replacement couldn't figure out (using AI) if they wanted to fire you.
itkovian_ 8d ago
I’ve felt for a long time that the things I loved when I first started programming aren’t really there anymore. This comment made me realize that world truly is completely gone.

lolakutty 9d ago

> involve your proprietary workflow. Until the next model update...

hackmack10 9d ago
This is true. I also think part of your job security will be constantly racing on this treadmill to make sure you're able to incorporate that next model (if applicable). Meaning incorporate your tools, existing knowledge, harnesses, configs etc...

deleted 9d ago

[deleted]

twKrash 9d ago

20 years ? already vet ? I though that I'm still young :)

yokoprime 9d ago

I've also worked 20 years in the industry, and if feel completely the opposite. Having a great setup and pipeline that works for you is a huge plus, but nothing can replace the intuition and knowhow you have built up with experience. Sharing is still caring, and we should not stop caring

hackmack10 9d ago
Serious question, why? Nobody gives a fuck if I'm out of a job, especially OpenAI and Anthropic. They stole the worlds knowledge to put us out of a job and arguably took away what it means to be a human. Why should I contribute anything more to that? Solving hard problems will be the only thing that separates you from others. Your mindset and tools should be a trade secret at this point.
- adrianwaj 8d ago
  It's a great point. At 36, Steve House released a video in 2006 about all his climbing equipment (someone talked him into it.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCKK-e4gVVA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCKK-e4gVVA (reupload) I thinked he helped a lot of people with that video in the super competitive world of mountaineering. This was after a legendary ascent of Nanga Parbat. May well have shot himself in the foot but also cemented his status as YT was taking off at the time. Moreover, I think he likes/liked teaching. A year or two ago there were some very precise workflows documented here. The reluctance now would mark the transition away from "sharing helps me" to "sharing hinders me" ...it's an interesting topic. Sharing with strangers may be the problem because the favour will never be returned - at least not in a direct way. But, metaphysically according to natural laws it might be. Because sharing a valuable secret openly is such a powerful way to express abundance. It grants someone followers. It also prevents people from filing a patent on it. 4 years later House survived a 25m climbing fall. It's all about one's internal motivation. "Those that can, do, and those that can't, teach." Well, what happens if "those that can," actually teach? Just imagine if all sporting stars shared their secrets.. what would happen? Secrets just occur naturally, if you don't share, they'll likely be stolen unless protected - and that requires effort too.
- evdubs 8d ago
  You're not going to lose your job because you shared your AI setup / tools with your colleagues. You're going to lose your job because management over-hired and is being pressured by shareholders to reduce employee salary expenses. It won't matter what hard problem solving moat you think you have if management is forced to have layoffs and you're in an unlucky situation. If you're worried about job security, you should consider joining a union and not be fixated on knowledge sharing.
  - akoboldfrying 8d ago
    > It won't matter what hard problem solving moat you think you have This is false on its face. There's a reason why a company, even today, would hire John Carmack over a person with no reputation, or offer him a higher salary if employing both people. Unionising is definitely something worth considering. But, as with the question of whether it's better to compete or cooperate with other people in your field, is a nuanced question that depends on details you aren't acknowledging.
twKrash 9d ago
completely agree. Same 20 years in the industry
ingsoc79 8d ago
6 months ago I would have agreed wholeheartedly with you. Lately however I've observed coworkers vibe coding massive band-aids over broader architectural issues in our codebase without any prior context. They have no understanding of (nor any desire to understand) what they're doing, but they are being given kudos by management for their "initiative" to solve the organization's "big problems." Guess who will be asked to clean up the mess if (when) it blows up. It's getting cheaper and cheaper to kick the can down the road, and standing in front of that risks making you look like a dinosaur. It's going to be an interesting few years...
- jesterson 8d ago
  I have exactly same observations and perspective. Seeing how these kids walk around with smug faces telling everyone they will "do IT now" just because claude told them so and manament wants ai everywhere made me sad at first, but then hey - everything this world keeps being destroyed, no matter how intelligent creators were. Perhaps there is some fundamental law in it.
corv 8d ago
I'm also tending towards the generous stance: 1. The value of software is tending towards nil while it's ever easier to tailor bespoke solutions. That suggests to me that I'm losing less by sharing, and it's probably not even going to be taken wholesale and kept verbatim. 2. The labs have already trained on everything and will keep on doing so. Therefore continuing to contribute to OSS doesn't just benefit my own future self but the entire ecosystem. (Yes, I need to get over how it appears a select few are making off with the lion's share but that only differs in degree in comparison to the past) At least now the cards are being shuffled elsewhere...

deleted 9d ago

[deleted]

mystifyingpoi 9d ago

Two years ago, I'd consider this attitude as ungrateful. Today, this attitude is 100% correct and I slowly start to be like that. People might think I'm a dick, I don't care, my tools, my knowledge, my job security. I actually recently thought of nuking the entire IaC setup and go back to shell scripts on random virtual machines. Too bad that Claude can figure things like that out pretty easily. Well, the world sucks now.

zormino 9d ago
I've landed here as well, but by force. I've actually tried to share some of the productivity and workflow tools I've built with AI that help automate portions of my work, specifically on target firmware debugging, and everyone at work just...ignored it. Didnt care. Of the small number of people who even stopped to look, a few of them were actively negative. Maybe I didnt sell it hard enough, but my job isnt to sell productivity tools internally (or even make them, i did it for myself). So, I'll keep making myself more productive and build tools for myself. And everyone else will just have to figure out their own path. I tried to help, but oh well.
bbor 8d ago
People might think I'm a dick, I don't care, my tools, my knowledge, my job security. If you're feeling ponderous, I'd ask you to consider the outlandish hypothetical that this doesn't win you meaningful[1] job security, and you end up in the same bucket o' crabs as the rest of us. Would you regret your current actions? [1]: anywhere from the fathomable "my harness didn't come up in my layoff email nor in any of my failed interviews following that" to the realistic "the entire concept of employment shifted under our feet so quickly and so profoundly that a dash of solidarity & luck outweighed even the shrewdest preparations".
- joquarky 8d ago
  What is job security? Who even offers this?
  - mystifyingpoi 8d ago

ls-a 9d ago

[dead]

qurren 9d ago

Exactly this. I've worked hard year after year, paid too much taxes, and still haven't gotten job security in return. Living costs are still rising. No thanks to sharing anything for free. Maybe once I have retirement levels of money, and when I'm not actually working for the money, I'll be interested in sharing.

deadbabe 8d ago

Exactly. In fact, hiring may be conducted almost entirely based on what kind of tools and skills you build that no one else really has access to.

bbor 8d ago

You should check the provenance and licenses of your dependencies -- I bet there's a few irrational gifts in there from the nerds in the "open source" community ;) Or, in SVese: are you a taker or a maker?

pasteleft 8d ago

This is really disappointing. I love programming community because they just share or open(-source) their knowledge with an absolute no cost. There's tons of resources about how to build a OS, DB, Apps, etc. I'm curious why would you think differently about AI workflows.

antonvs 8d ago
> they just share or open(-source) their knowledge with an absolute no cost. You need to consider how they were able to do that. For many people, it’s because they had highly paid, secure jobs that essentially funded their open source activity.l, even if only as a side project or personal project. If you take away that security and reliable funding, you destroy the environment that supported people sharing like that.

internet2000 8d ago

There's zero chance you have some secret sauce a motivated employer / your replacement couldn't figure out (using AI) if they wanted to fire you.

itkovian_ 8d ago

I’ve felt for a long time that the things I loved when I first started programming aren’t really there anymore. This comment made me realize that world truly is completely gone.