[rectang]

Software is a second career for me, and the pervasive hostility of the tech industry has never stopped shocking me. I dream of communities where differences are celebrated, enhancing creative ferment; the tech industry as a whole won't be that way within the foreseeable future, but there can be pockets where tolerance and constructive interaction are norms.

The Rust community is one of them. Regardless of whether it is successful as a recruitment tool, regardless of the effect on productivity, building a kind community is worthwhile just for the sake of its members.

Because life is short, and every hour that we spend enjoying ourselves rather than enveloped by hostility is a treasure.

[centimeter]

> I dream of communities where differences are celebrated, enhancing creative ferment

"Difference" is a semantically overloaded word. The kind of differences that are needed to move software forward aren't the kind of superficial differences that might signal creative diversity in other industries, like music, where cultural background is a significant influence on creative output.

[rectang]

Well, not to worry — that dream will not be realized any time soon. There are too many people in today's tech industry who are utterly, adamantly opposed to it and who will strive tirelessly to defeat it.

My heart remains in the independent music industry, not here. The tech industry is a horrible place.

[nerdponx]

And believe it or not, things are better now than they were in the past. Reading mailing lists and forums from the early 00s is a very uncomfortable experience.

I suspect that being derisive and dismissive is often a coping mechanism for when a person realizes they don't know how to answer a question but doesn't want to admit it.

[xupybd]

Do you mind if I ask what your first career was?

[rectang]

I worked in a recording studio for 6 years. It had started as a punk rock shop, but by the time I worked there had grown into a mid-level facility with a diverse clientele; I recorded two koto albums, remastered a Marcel Marceau interview record, did transfers of lost tapes from Cambodian surf rock bands wiped out by the Khmer Rouge... it was day after day of solving hard technical problems with very limited budgets to help individuals achieve their personal artistic visions, and an ongoing celebration of freaks letting their freak flags fly.

I dream of open source software communities with a similar ethos, but they must exist within a vast sea of tech industry assholery and misogyny, and are so easily swamped.