Solderpunk wrote a very nice phlog about Spiritual Computing. And
since I have been a professional sysadmin and a programmer, should
be read as: paid to do, not in any way a very pro-anything, I think
I can answer to how spiritual computing feels like to me, and why
I choose to go low power and choosing less connectivity. And this
is even if I am a Serious Programmer in the Real World and know
how to scale things in Kubernetes to drive down cost!
The things I do in private computing are very cli and low
power. This is by choice. and I can almost live the same way
in my line of work at least in designing systems. Even if the
actual paper producing work has to be very graphical. But having
the power to choose your own language and tools for development,
makes it possible to have fun at work as well. And build systems
that are good in a way that I also try to build things at home.
And of course, one cannot escape THE CLOUD and other very
Enterpricey things, but there are small places and pockets where one
can use the same philosphy of simple things doing one thing good.
However, if I was forced into an all Java world with enforced IDE
and so on, it would be impossible to have this freedom. So far it
has not happened.
In regards to code quality, I am lucky that my current company does
not allow shortcuts. I guess that would also make it impossible
to have fun. They have probably learned the hard way that taking
shortcuts always costs more down the line. And I completely agree.
Solderpunk also mentions pets vs. cattle, and this is a dear
subject to me, which I think I will revisit in another phlog.
