6 ms·

Did I say a career goal? No? Maybe y'know, you shouldn't put words in people's mouths and actually read what was written. I'm telling you the way you value/put

Did I say a career goal? No? Maybe y'know, you shouldn't put words in people's mouths and actually read what was written. I'm telling you the way you value/put things is specific to you and a smaller percentage of the programmer population than you imply. It works for web developers working on small projects. It doesn't work in larger team environments where having 90% of the developers needing to learn X to maintain the project is a noticeable impact. > Ultimately this is why I don't take any of my side projects seriously anymore, and if there's something I want to learn, I'll find a way to get paid for it. Side projects should be taken seriously because people aren't going to rearrange their careers to scratch itches like "I want to see if I like Django better than RoR". If that falls under the category of "career goal" for you, we honestly should stop talking to each other because we operate on two very different levels. We are never going to agree. The problem becomes when you [like the OP] try to apply your limited world view as a universal truth. One of my side projects that I run for fun and setup in a couple weekends generates thousands of dollars a year which I then reinvest into my side projects to amuse myself. It is a hobby that pays for all of my computer-related hobbies. So when people like you and the OP dismiss them, I'm amused because I realize I can't take either of you seriously. You don't consider the possibility that you are wrong when told you are mistaken but instead resort to claiming I don't know what I'm talking about. I know another developer whose side project generates non-negligible revenues and consulting gigs. So when you said can't take your side projects seriously to reinforce the OP's point, you reinforce this idea that side projects should not be taken seriously.

vinceguidry 12y ago
> Side projects should be taken seriously because people aren't going to rearrange their careers to scratch itches like "I want to see if I like Django better than RoR". If that falls under the category of "career goal" for you, we honestly should stop talking to each other because we operate on two very different levels. We are never going to agree. I guess you're right, we're never going to agree. The choice of platform to specialize in is in my opinion a very very important career decision you have to make, because the switching costs are greater than we're going to see. Platform familiarity has bought me 90% of the flexibility I have at my job. I got to be that familiar because I happen to really like Rails. I got to learn Rails because I got someone to pay me to learn it. At one point, a career goal of mine was to "get paid full time to work with Rails." Now that I've achieved that goal, I have bigger and better ones. I don't know what level you are operating at, but my new goals involve putting together a cohesive team that can knock out projects really fast, followed by starting a company with the experience gained from accomplishing the former. > One of my side projects that I run for fun and setup in a couple weekends generates thousands of dollars a year... Thousands a year? I just don't get spending that kind of time for that little of a return. I'd rather roll that effort into being a better coder and the best way I've seen to do that is to work on projects bigger than yourself, that bring lots of people with different talents in to build something that much more interesting and viable. If I just wanted a few thousand more, I'd ask for a raise. Just because it's non-negligible doesn't mean it's worth my time.
- opendais 12y ago
  So you make over $200k a year AND have fun doing it? I'm just asking because that is the only way your comment makes sense. If not, I suggest you re-read. > At one point, a career goal of mine was to "get paid full time to work with Rails." Now that I've achieved that goal, I have bigger and better ones. I don't know what level you are operating at, but my new goals involve putting together a cohesive team that can knock out projects really fast, followed by starting a company with the experience gained from accomplishing the former. I wish you the best of luck with your goals, for whatever that is worth. I don't mean any of this personally...I just think the view you and the OP take is far too narrow. The reason I said "different level" is our goals are so completely different as to be incomparable from an objective viewpoint.

vinceguidry 12y ago

> Side projects should be taken seriously because people aren't going to rearrange their careers to scratch itches like "I want to see if I like Django better than RoR". If that falls under the category of "career goal" for you, we honestly should stop talking to each other because we operate on two very different levels. We are never going to agree. I guess you're right, we're never going to agree. The choice of platform to specialize in is in my opinion a very very important career decision you have to make, because the switching costs are greater than we're going to see. Platform familiarity has bought me 90% of the flexibility I have at my job. I got to be that familiar because I happen to really like Rails. I got to learn Rails because I got someone to pay me to learn it. At one point, a career goal of mine was to "get paid full time to work with Rails." Now that I've achieved that goal, I have bigger and better ones. I don't know what level you are operating at, but my new goals involve putting together a cohesive team that can knock out projects really fast, followed by starting a company with the experience gained from accomplishing the former. > One of my side projects that I run for fun and setup in a couple weekends generates thousands of dollars a year... Thousands a year? I just don't get spending that kind of time for that little of a return. I'd rather roll that effort into being a better coder and the best way I've seen to do that is to work on projects bigger than yourself, that bring lots of people with different talents in to build something that much more interesting and viable. If I just wanted a few thousand more, I'd ask for a raise. Just because it's non-negligible doesn't mean it's worth my time.

opendais 12y ago
So you make over $200k a year AND have fun doing it? I'm just asking because that is the only way your comment makes sense. If not, I suggest you re-read. > At one point, a career goal of mine was to "get paid full time to work with Rails." Now that I've achieved that goal, I have bigger and better ones. I don't know what level you are operating at, but my new goals involve putting together a cohesive team that can knock out projects really fast, followed by starting a company with the experience gained from accomplishing the former. I wish you the best of luck with your goals, for whatever that is worth. I don't mean any of this personally...I just think the view you and the OP take is far too narrow. The reason I said "different level" is our goals are so completely different as to be incomparable from an objective viewpoint.