Thinking about it, this also comes back to something I wanted to do about tech team values, and the idea of making shared tech ideals more open, with more weight. Currently that's not even part of the discussion in most places.
@garbados Feels a bit like where the agile manifesto sprang out from, that feeling of disempowerment, and the idea that the wider system could be done better - that "tech" doesn't stop at the codebase or the command line, but extends out to the people, the team, the relationships and the deliverables.
@garbados I love this idea of what we do as a craft though, as you say. The art of everything from lines of code, up through to pattern design, through to system design, and team relationships. Strikes such a chord, and something I've been trying to figure out the last year. Shit, there's got to be better ways to defend and promote this.
@garbados I've managed to stay clear of the latter by good luck, I think, but have always found the former too. The image of tech is of magic that anyone can do. The capitalist image of tech is that workers are replaceable, that one dev = any other. One of my most frustrating jobs as head of tech is to try to dispel these myths, but it's sooo hard. People just want tech built. And developers are sadly all too happy too throw their own life/value away in exchange for an interesting challenge...
it feels pretty weird that so many other devs i know have tech-related ptsd, like that it's just standard to the profession. of course you'll develop stress tremors and debilitating triggers; of course you'll be used and abused; but we're building The Future!! by killing people. besides, the pay is good, right? why complain? 🤦♀️
the consequences of our craft require a higher standard, both for our practices and our treatment.