Not the parent and I don't totally agree with his position, but I can certainly relate.
>(1) You don't like the engineering part of software development, finding it too tedious or something?
I find the engineering of software fascinating. I've found the glacial pace and ceremony of most software development teams I've been exposed to unbearable.
I can't imagine this is intrinsic to software development, more likely a clash of cultures and eras.
For example, during my longest stint in a sysadmin role (~10 years) I supported and migrated between a continuously shifting mix of OS/2, Windows, AIX, Solaris, NetWare and all sorts of Linux speaking SNA, IPX, TCP/IP on EoC, TR etc.
I did this while accommodating and often clashing with internal developers who had been working the same codebase the entire time.
Again, I don't mean to present this as something necessarily true of all development vs administration as a whole, but I've seen it and heard similar experiences related enough to think that it's not uncommon.
>(2) You feel like you're more badass for having to get shit done in a much smaller time frame.
Well, "badass" seems a bit condescending.
When a sysadmin needs to get things done in 20 or 45 minutes, there's a good chance his job depends on it. Though they generally wouldn't choose to put in positions like that, I have found that people who excel in the role are the ones who can stay cool, thrive under intense pressure.
Coincidentally, one of if not the best programmer I've worked with was previously a programming sysadmin for a big name in the games industry.
His stories corroborate what is often heard about gaming companies - that the continuous crunch time isn't necessary so much a matter of exploiting an endless supply of young, enthusiastic talent.
I'd certainly see myself having issues with that kind of environment.
The fast iterating development culture of many Internet-era companies certainly sound nice, but never having worked in one, I'm not sure how of the hype to believe.
I don't work for a game company, but yeah, I agree that the crunch time doesn't work well. I've read articles about the correlation between that kind of crunch time programming, and the general maturity of the artform. That is, the guys (I remember the industry being dominated by males) who raise a family and enter that stage of their life end up dropping out of the gaming industry. Thus, games tend to be made by guys who haven't had that life experience, willing to go into crunch mode, etc.
I brought it up though as an example of pacing. I'm trying to discern whether it is the pacing itself, or whether it is the programming jobs you have tried have been with organizations that have a lot of red tape, or whether it is simply the engineering discipline that you prefer not to participate in.
As for the Internet-era companies, the fast iteration is something you tend to see more in startups rather than startups that have matured into big business. Iteration for the sake of iteration itself doesn't work very well either (John Boyd "fighter pilot agility" vs. Agile Manifesto). It's also where devops is coming out from, and proliferating back into mainstream IT.
>(1) You don't like the engineering part of software development, finding it too tedious or something?
I find the engineering of software fascinating. I've found the glacial pace and ceremony of most software development teams I've been exposed to unbearable.
I can't imagine this is intrinsic to software development, more likely a clash of cultures and eras.
For example, during my longest stint in a sysadmin role (~10 years) I supported and migrated between a continuously shifting mix of OS/2, Windows, AIX, Solaris, NetWare and all sorts of Linux speaking SNA, IPX, TCP/IP on EoC, TR etc.
I did this while accommodating and often clashing with internal developers who had been working the same codebase the entire time.
Again, I don't mean to present this as something necessarily true of all development vs administration as a whole, but I've seen it and heard similar experiences related enough to think that it's not uncommon.
>(2) You feel like you're more badass for having to get shit done in a much smaller time frame.
Well, "badass" seems a bit condescending.
When a sysadmin needs to get things done in 20 or 45 minutes, there's a good chance his job depends on it. Though they generally wouldn't choose to put in positions like that, I have found that people who excel in the role are the ones who can stay cool, thrive under intense pressure.