[Version467]

Thanks for posting this. I see kids in my not too distant future and while I personally don't believe this I see lots and lots of comments on the internet saying that having kids basically stops everything else dead in its tracks for ~2 decades.

There are so few people with experiences like yours that it's sometimes hard to not let that get into my head.

So it's refreshing to see a different opinion.

[ahelwer]

A lot of generalities don't really apply to you if you were one of the two other people building Amazon.com in Bezos' garage: https://www.wired.com/1999/03/bezos-3/

[PaulDavisThe1st]

Amzn allowed me to (a) be a stay-at-home parent (b) work on a FLOSS project for several (maybe 10) years without needing to generate any revenue.

It did not have any impact on my curiosity or learning process during the journey I've been on for the last 25 years.

The point is the the presence (or absence) of children is not determinative of your ability to deep-dive. Or so I am claiming.

[ahelwer]

Right! My original quip about children was more about financial constraints than anything. Not trying to shame you or anything, I think using the Amazon windfall to work on FOSS is absolutely the dream and one of the best possible ways you could have contributed to the world.

[PaulDavisThe1st]

It's a fair point that being able to tinker on FLOSS while my kid(s) were at school rather than having a full time job and leaving the tinkering for late at night was probably quite beneficial.

Nevertheless, I would still like to claim that kids or not is not determinative of your ability to do the deep dive.

I'd also like to think that some distance in the future, it will be raising my daughter will turn out to have been the best possible way I contributed to the world. This software stuff is, in the end, a distraction for the most part (especially when there are/were already so many options in the particular niche that Ardour occupies).

[danw1979]

I think swathes of free time (which sounds like you had at Amazon) with days on end of no meetings or commitments (or childcare) are the key.

I just did 5 months between contracts. The kids were at school for 6 hours a day. It took a good few weeks for the ideas to start flowing and my curiosity and enthusiasm to build, such that I actually started writing code and enjoyed the process.

It’s something I never experienced before with regular holiday leave, where all-day childcare would usually be involved.

It’s only recently I’ve been in a financial position to be able to create free time like this. It was really expensive though, and I’m unlikely to be doing it again for a few years.

[Version467]

I don't know what I expected, but it certainly wasn't that. Thanks for letting me know. Though I really don't know what to make of this now (if anything).

[PaulDavisThe1st]

Maybe see my reply adjacent to yours in this subthread.