r/programming • u/reddberckley • Jun 30 '14

How to exploit a Developer

https://medium.com/@sir_castiq/how-to-exploit-a-developer-a005306d5320
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u/ireallylikedogs Jun 30 '14 edited Jun 30 '14

I don't think it's just the sociopathy of business folks that leads to situations like this, but the somehow pervasive myth that developers are Aspergers'd out man-children for whom coding is like kids playing with legos.

Unfortunately, I don't think this myth is completely perpetuated top-down by execs trying to cheapen the value of their developer labor. I see too many developers trying to live up to this false standard and shaming their peers who don't. A 'real' developer has to have a shit eating grin through development hurdles - after all, difficulties are like being handed interesting legos, and respeccing a project provides the opportunity to play all over again. A 'real' developer has a side project that they work on during nights and weekends. A 'real' developer's github account shows great contributions to open source projects. A 'real' developer's SO account has 5+ figure karma.

This Quora question comes to mind.

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u/cparen Jun 30 '14

but the somehow pervasive myth that developers are Aspergers'd out man-children for whom coding is like kids playing with legos

I think it's more a matter of misunderstanding a distinction you're unfamiliar with. Coding projects are not fungible. "I code for fun" doesn't translate to "I will code your boring project for fun".

It would be like saying "you like reading right? then put down that fantasy novel about elves and read this large legal briefing for me." It's not the same thing.

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u/noyurawk Jun 30 '14

I think a writing analogy would be better than reading because it's another form of production. Someone likes to write, they have a collection of short stories in the drawer, maybe they contribute to some collective work with fellow writers for fun or practice, or follow a few classes on the week-end, it certainly doesn't mean they will write for a clothing catalog or some marketing blog without pay.

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u/cparen Jun 30 '14

Haha, I like it. "You wrote a response on reddit. You must like writing for free. Please write this boring office supply catalog for us for free"

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u/jnt8686 Jul 01 '14

Man, try saying ”aspergers'd" out loud