Name: Anonymous 2013-10-19 2:51
Suppose you were offered an ultimatum by the powers that be, /prog/.
1) For the rest of your life you will work in the bowels of ENTERPRISE. You will never be allowed to work on anything other than middleware for connecting ESBs, interfaces to define ReportGeneratorFactoryBuilders, and javadoc for Business Logic metamodels. You will be expressly forbidden by contract from writing any software (e.g. in your spare time) and not transferring the copyright to the company, likewise from contributing any code to unapproved projects (there are no approved projects). You will be moderately compensated, but never as much as the middle manager above you. Your coworkers will be drab, uninterested, and uninspired.
2) For the rest of your life you will drift from startup to startup, never escaping Silicon Valley. You will work exclusively in Ruby, PHP, and Javascript, plus whatever language the Rock Star read about on HN last weekend. You will survive only by your (and your 20-something Psych major/CS minor boss's) skill at pitching web-scale, html5-embeddable rhythonscript++ mobile ad frameworks. If you are very lucky, you may get a chance to work on a mobile Bejeweled clone. You will be encouraged to contribute to any non-company projects you choose... as long as you can commit to the 80-100 hr work weeks that are needed to prove to the VCs that the team is dedicated. You will be fabulously wealthy, if you believe the founder's valuation of the company, but you will occasionally have to live on Ramen for and water for a week or so while you wait to learn if the Angel investor came through. Your coworkers will be either in college or fresh out of it, bouncing with enthusiasm, and completely clueless/disdainful of anything but the latest fad.
Well?
1) For the rest of your life you will work in the bowels of ENTERPRISE. You will never be allowed to work on anything other than middleware for connecting ESBs, interfaces to define ReportGeneratorFactoryBuilders, and javadoc for Business Logic metamodels. You will be expressly forbidden by contract from writing any software (e.g. in your spare time) and not transferring the copyright to the company, likewise from contributing any code to unapproved projects (there are no approved projects). You will be moderately compensated, but never as much as the middle manager above you. Your coworkers will be drab, uninterested, and uninspired.
2) For the rest of your life you will drift from startup to startup, never escaping Silicon Valley. You will work exclusively in Ruby, PHP, and Javascript, plus whatever language the Rock Star read about on HN last weekend. You will survive only by your (and your 20-something Psych major/CS minor boss's) skill at pitching web-scale, html5-embeddable rhythonscript++ mobile ad frameworks. If you are very lucky, you may get a chance to work on a mobile Bejeweled clone. You will be encouraged to contribute to any non-company projects you choose... as long as you can commit to the 80-100 hr work weeks that are needed to prove to the VCs that the team is dedicated. You will be fabulously wealthy, if you believe the founder's valuation of the company, but you will occasionally have to live on Ramen for and water for a week or so while you wait to learn if the Angel investor came through. Your coworkers will be either in college or fresh out of it, bouncing with enthusiasm, and completely clueless/disdainful of anything but the latest fad.
Well?