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On the whole, I agree with this. Unfortunately, as programming has gone mainstream, so too has its culture. In London at least, offices and coworking spaces see
by blowski 13y ago
On the whole, I agree with this. Unfortunately, as programming has gone mainstream, so too has its culture. In London at least, offices and coworking spaces seem to take more inspiration from Mad Magazine than Xerox PARC, like somehow we'd write better software if we were just a bit more wacky.
I for one would love programming environments to look a bit more grown up and less like a frat party.
edit: changed 'creative' to 'wacky'
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- blowski 13y agoHow do you mean?
- vanderZwan 13y ago> Offices and coworking spaces seem to take more inspiration from Mad Magazine than Xerox PARC, like somehow we'd write better software if we were more creative. I get what you are trying to say, but as a guy with a degree in arts who considers Alan Kay one of his big heroes (if old and grumpy), I have to protest against the implied definition of "creative" here.
- blowski 13y agoYeah, I changed the word to wacky, because I think that's more what I was trying to say.
- Nursie 13y agoThere are plenty of mature workspaces in London, with people that take the job seriously and consider their role akin to engineering rather than playtime at the zoo. Never have worked with the old-street set though, so I guess YMMV.
- shangxiao 13y agoSo do you pine for the old IBM days?
- blowski 13y agoNot exactly. It feels like the stereotypical programmer is shifting from being a bearded middle-aged white man to a privileged drunken 20-something man. Sure it's a stereotype, and there are plenty of folks doing very-well-thankyou-very-much within the programming community. BUT I think the OP is saying (and I agree) that the 'free beer and pizza' culture is starting to dominate the public view of the programming community. So we get tools with offputtingly brotastic names, documentation that's littered with gratuitous profanity, meetups that reward the biggest drinkers rather than the most interesting. So I would like to see a culture where the quiet folks can do a 9-to-5, then go home and enjoy church and family without missing out on key decisions and opportunities. If you want to go to a meetup, you can drink a lemonade without people making assumptions.