Hacker News: stevenlangbroek

New comment by stevenlangbroek in "Programming Still Sucks"

stevenlangbroek — Thu, 07 May 2026 13:46:07 +0000

Nothing to apologize for!

New comment by stevenlangbroek in "Programming Still Sucks"

stevenlangbroek — Thu, 07 May 2026 12:37:14 +0000

Depends on who & what you ask. Aggregates hide important nuance. For who? At what cost to who? Do the people who bare the cost have a say? Would they agree that it's worth it? What's their life worth?

New comment by stevenlangbroek in "Programming Still Sucks"

stevenlangbroek — Thu, 07 May 2026 10:58:40 +0000

Is all demand equal? How is demand induced, by who and for what benefit?

New comment by stevenlangbroek in "Programming Still Sucks"

stevenlangbroek — Thu, 07 May 2026 10:57:41 +0000

Correct. But don't you want something from the future? What do you imagine it to look like? How far is it from what you hope it might? What are you willing to do to bring them closer together?

New comment by stevenlangbroek in "Programming Still Sucks"

stevenlangbroek — Thu, 07 May 2026 10:55:40 +0000

So? We produce enough food for 10 billion people every year, there's only 8 billion of us and a billion are hungry. Those seem like legible KPIs for shareholders (i.e. humanity) to pursue, no? And while World GDP is up, it's come at the expensive of the systems we depend on.

I want my son to live on a livable planet, and not under the constant threat of destitution. And I want that for all children, not just mine.

New comment by stevenlangbroek in "Programming Still Sucks"

stevenlangbroek — Thu, 07 May 2026 09:50:40 +0000

I have bad news for you...

New comment by stevenlangbroek in "Programming Still Sucks"

stevenlangbroek — Thu, 07 May 2026 09:03:28 +0000

Keep writing please! Where can I find your writing?

New comment by stevenlangbroek in "Programming Still Sucks"

stevenlangbroek — Thu, 07 May 2026 09:02:16 +0000

No, there's a difference between doing well for yourself and exploiting the labor of others to capture stupendous amounts of excess capital, then reinvesting part of that to make even more.

New comment by stevenlangbroek in "Programming Still Sucks"

stevenlangbroek — Thu, 07 May 2026 08:56:28 +0000

it sounds like you should learn a bit more about grief. also, please, for god's sake, read the original. I've linked to it in at the top of the article. As to envious, I'm a Director of Engineering. What exactly do you think is left for me to be envious of? The levels above (VP, SVP, CTO at a non-startup) are outside of my interest.

New comment by stevenlangbroek in "Programming Still Sucks"

stevenlangbroek — Thu, 07 May 2026 08:54:41 +0000

"technology is neutral, deployment is not"

is that a reasonable statement? if so, congratulations, welcome to the club bud! you're a luddite now. we meet on tuesdays, please bring cookies if it's your first time.

New comment by stevenlangbroek in "Programming Still Sucks"

stevenlangbroek — Thu, 07 May 2026 08:53:09 +0000

Not much for a while, then when I was a teenager I got into Flash / ActionScript, this was around the 2advanced era, if that means anything to you. I did a little bit of that & HTML, CSS and PHP throughout high school, then landed a job in e-mail marketing a few years after I dropped out of school, slicing templates for customers. Been climbing my way up since.

New comment by stevenlangbroek in "Programming Still Sucks"

stevenlangbroek — Thu, 07 May 2026 08:50:50 +0000

As a typography nerd, I am also mourning the death of typographic style. Em-dashes and ligatures <3

New comment by stevenlangbroek in "Programming Still Sucks"

stevenlangbroek — Thu, 07 May 2026 08:41:26 +0000

Hey! I'm not insulted at all. My position is that of a Luddite: I think technology is neutral, but deployment is not. My critique is structural, and I don't blame people in or out of tech for adopting AI to be able to survive.

No AIs were harmed in the writing of this post, either physically or by the sharing of earlier (cringe) drafts.

New comment by stevenlangbroek in "Programming Still Sucks"

stevenlangbroek — Thu, 07 May 2026 08:35:55 +0000

You mean after the dot-com bubble and after the financial crisis? I mean, not to disagree, but what point are you making here?

New comment by stevenlangbroek in "Programming Still Sucks"

stevenlangbroek — Thu, 07 May 2026 08:29:06 +0000

You're giving "yet you participate in society" vibes that I don't love, but let me address a few things:

- We're not indentured workers yet. We should always have been fighting for their dignity & rights, because they're ours too. - Might I invite you to read the original, it's linked at the top of the article. Sure, programming isn't physically demanding, but that doesn't mean we should just accept the bad parts. - All of that being said, yes I agree, other jobs are more valuable and it's insane that we get paid what we do. That's why I'm a socialist. Your value shouldn't depend on a grabbag of accidental circumstances outside of your control.

As to selling consulting on the side: I've been an employee for 2 decades, and am striking out on my own to build a better life for my newborn son & fiance. Sorry for wanting to be a more present father.

New comment by stevenlangbroek in "Programming Still Sucks"

stevenlangbroek — Thu, 07 May 2026 08:22:48 +0000

I'm sorry, or you're welcome :D

New comment by stevenlangbroek in "Programming Still Sucks"

stevenlangbroek — Thu, 07 May 2026 08:22:03 +0000

I agree, but would dare you to go one step further: there is no accountability for harm because, being the "bourgeoisie" under neoliberal capitalism, capital insulates them from consequences.

New comment by stevenlangbroek in "Programming Still Sucks"

stevenlangbroek — Thu, 07 May 2026 07:44:25 +0000

What you're describing is akin to Jevon's paradox. Let's see. The Industrial Revolution, I think a good analogy, caused years of death & suffering before raising standards of living, and even then only so because of mass organizing & uprising.

New comment by stevenlangbroek in "Programming Still Sucks"

stevenlangbroek — Thu, 07 May 2026 07:04:19 +0000

i zoomed in on a specific aspect of the experience, that of course doesn't mean everything is bad across the board. i've gotten great joy from programming, especially with other cool people, for most of my life. i'm grieving the loss of that joy, and hopefully, inspiring a few people to start talking to their peers about it, rather than suffering in silence.

New comment by stevenlangbroek in "Programming Still Sucks"

stevenlangbroek — Thu, 07 May 2026 06:58:34 +0000

> Ah you textile workers are so whiny...

hell yeah baby, I'm a proud Luddite.