[mratzloff]

Things happen, I get it. That's why I talk to people to get the full story.

A few notes:

> "I'm looking for exciting new projects and to learn new things!"

Because literally everyone says this, this is a meaningless sentence. After all, no one is saying, "I want to be a maintenance programmer." Demonstrated desire to learn new things is what sets apart the doers from the talkers.

> Instead of judging based on the time spent at places, ask why they're bored and what they would enjoy working on.

I do, of course. I could write 1000 words on this topic but it's late and so I will just say that every developer wants to work on these projects, there are never enough openings on them to go around, and someone needs to write the code that keeps the lights on. A wise developer would 1) initially work hard on their own time to gain the skills necessary to be given these kinds of tasks at work, and 2) propose interesting projects with a direct business relevance at their current company before looking for new jobs elsewhere.

[blablabla123]

> After all, no one is saying, "I want to be a

> maintenance programmer." Demonstrated desire to learn

> new things is what sets apart the doers from the talkers.

Okay but having worked myself on 2 maintenance-legacy-everybody-hates-projects, I realize that there is no interest of anyone that the projects get progressed. Reason these projects got into that state are always political. Of project #1 I did a 80% rewrite in 4 weeks - the original took 3 years and ate hundred thousands - of course my rewrite had to be discontinued. In fact nobody officially was allowed to work on it, except that I had to. Nice, right?

This is an extreme case but I find it the norm rather than the exception. Everybody is afraid of new things. And no, many devs do not want to learn new stuff. Might be true that everybody says this but who cares. I mean when I put on my CV every technology I know, recruiters become suspicious and say that doesn't make sense.

[mratzloff]

Maintenance projects bring in revenue for the company today—perhaps even most of the revenue. But they're not the future of the company. Perhaps these projects are serving out the remainder of a contractual obligation that is profitable but not wildly profitable. Perhaps they are feature complete and adding more risks complicating them. Perhaps this line of business is declining every year.

Companies put time and effort into projects with greater future returns.

Rewriting your maintenance project does not just affect you. It requires other people: QA, systems engineers, etc. It carries risk that something breaks. It requires energy and focus, when it is essentially a distraction from future projects. There is a moneymaking machine in the basement that requires turning the crank once an hour to continue working. You are the person employed to turn the crank, not rebuild the device. Get it?

When I say propose new projects, I mean new projects that make the company money. Work within to change the landscape of your job. Learning how to do that is infinitely more valuable and rewarding than a $10k bump at another company.