[michaelpinto]

This is such depressing reading — it's all about "me" and doesn't give a damn for anybody else. I guess on a spiritual level this is why I hated the 4 Hour Work Week cult: It was all a sort of cult of being self centered. And on the flip side I think this is why I admire Bill Gates: Because he's taken the money he has and is actually trying to improve the world. There needs to be a bit more of that in the tech industry...

[vinceguidry]

I don't understand this. When you work in technology, the very work you do is a contribution to the world. It's not like finance where 90% of the money is in scamming the less-savvy by trading on the big name of the company you work for to inflate the price of crap.

Even if it's just making websites, you're increasing the size of the pie, not just trying to take other's slices. So why place this heavy moral burden on success?

Bill Gates is certainly an admirable figure, but really in spite of his philanthropy and not because of it IMO. He advanced the state of the art and made markets where none before existed. The "developers first" culture he created made it possible for regular people to make real livings in software, bringing tech out of the nerd boondocks.

[michaelpinto]

Software is just a tool and can be good or bad like any other tool: You can do something very positive like create a website that educates people on health issues and may save lives — but on the flip side maybe you're writing code to guide nuclear weapons.

But I'm not objecting to that: What I am objecting to is the sort of "me first" mindset that you see in that page. Granted I'm not saying that not everyone needs to be a saint, but you do need to be aware that there are other people out there.

[cgag]

He only started giving away money and doing good once he was absurdly wealthy and had financial freedom. How does working a normal full time job do more good for the world than freelancing and pursing your own interests?