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by klibertp 744 days ago
Oh, I know! While I got discouraged trying to learn K (I was a little too hung up on the notion of free software back in the day...), I learned J and had a terrific time interacting with the community. There were some bad apples, but the basket labeled "Smalltalk" is filled with many marvels. I enjoyed Factor while it was actively developed, which led me deep into Forth-land - an unforgettable experience. By the time I arrived on the other side of s-expressions, Smug Lisp Weenies were out and lots of friendly, curious, intelligent folk lived there instead. More recently, I invested some time into learning Raku - a beautifully eclectic, shockingly expressive language whose development is severely understaffed, underfunded, and underappreciated. I had a great time in all those instances - I know there are passionate people approaching programming creatively in all kinds of shapes and forms, and it's indeed heartening.

The problem is, when I go to work, I see exactly none of those people among my coworkers. I feel like breaking down on the spot and declaiming:

> I've seen things you people wouldn't believe... Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion... I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain... Time to die.

I don't, mostly out of respect to Rutger Hauer. Anyway, while in absolute terms people like that are probably much more numerous now than 20 years ago, they feel much more distant to me than ever before.

1 comments

Could you not just fire the people who are not like that and hire the people who are? If not, I think you might not have enough power in the organization! Seek more power!

Also consider finding a job where you need to know category theory to understand the system! That'll give you coworkers who are magical! And a little insane!

Ps. The "C" in "C-beams" now stands for "Category Theory"!

I'm baffled. Which part of my comment triggered you so? You come across as ballistic here. Can't you just "don't mind" my comment? I specifically asked for this, signaling that I don't feel too well right now...