Ask Slashdot: Life After Software Development?

An anonymous reader writes "I've been writing database apps for various industries as the senior developer or tech lead on a given project for most of the past 20 years. The last few years have become particularly taxing as I struggle to reiterate basic concepts to the same technically illiterate managers and stakeholders who keep turning up in charge. While most are knowledgeable about the industries our software is targeting, they just don't get the mechanics of what we do and never will. After so many years, I'm tired of repeating myself. I need a break. I need to walk away from it, and want to look at doing something that doesn't focus heavily on the IT industry day in, day out. Unfortunately, I'm locked to a regional city and I've just spent the majority of my adult life coding, with no other major skills to fall back on. While I'm not keen on remaining in front of a screen, I wouldn't be averse to becoming a tech user and consumer, rather than a creator. Are there similar Slashdotters out there who have made the leap of faith away from tech jobs and into something different? If so, where did you end up? Is there a life after IT for people who are geeks at heart? Apart from staying in my current job, is there any advice for someone who can't really risk the mortgage and kid's education on a whim?"

Comments

Re:Game Developement

[Anonymous Coward]

>Game Development

Infinitely worse. The only people who think game development is "light hearted" and "fun" are ignorant people who know diddly-squat about the games industry.

Re:Nope.

[mosb1000]

What kind of advice is that?

You'd be surprised how little it costs to get by. And if you're married, you can divide the labor between you two.

The thing is that what he want's it to be his own boss, or something like that. There are always incompetent managers, so you can't escape it just by changing jobs. But you can choose who you do business with.

It's a choice. Either you want the house in the suburbs with the stable income, and the shitty job that goes with it, or you don't.

Re:Nope.

[joebok]

Wow - how can such a shallow thoughtless answer be modded "insightful"?

If the question was "I've just quit my job coding 'cause I can't stand it any more, how can I feed my family?" - yes, that is "on a whim" and I agree, not a good way to proceed. This person is examining his life and looking for other options. That is not whimsical. He's asking for experiences of like-minded people, hoping to find inspiration. Absolutely NOTHING wrong with that. As Socrates said, the unexamined life is not worth living.

I completely identify with the question, and have been having thoughts on the same lines. My conclusions so far is that I still actually do like coding, I just don't like coding (or doing anything) for the pointy haired bosses who are not in charge where I have been working for 18 years. So I'm trying to retrain myself a bit, see if I can cash in on iOS apps or something like that. It is interesting for me to learn new things, and exercising creativity to ends of my own choosing is very refreshing. Even if I never made a dime from an app, changing my attitude and finding a creative outlet makes life tons better. I endure the idiots at work, bring home the paycheck to feed the fam, AND I'm in a better state of mind so the time I spend at home is quality time. Maybe that will be enough, maybe I will want to make a change in the future.

It is a 100% valid question and the answer is most definitely not "nope". A good programmer is a good problem solver - the problem of living a satisfying life of joy is worth solving.

Re:Nope.

[mosb1000]

That's silly. You don't want the house so stop paying your mortgage. Then go find an apartment, or move in with you parents. There are a surprising number of options if you can get out of the mindset that you have to own a house and you have to have good credit and you have to do whatever it is you think you have to do.

And most people have no idea what it really takes to raise kids well. I'll tell you one thing it doesn't require, a whole lot of money. And another thing you don't need to do it is a house.

Debt serfs don't get to walk away.

[Colin Smith]

Apart from staying in my current job, is there any advice for someone who can't really risk the mortgage and kid's education on a whim?"

There's a reason the monetary system is debt based. You just found it.

 

Re:Write or teach.

[houghi]

And in about 2 years my wife and I are going to retire to open a restaurant as we need to do something

You use that word 'retire' but I don';t think it means what you think it means.
Seriosuly, re-think what you want to do:
1) Run a restaurant which means working 24 hours a day and if need be at night as well. That is if you want to make money and not loose it. Money can go fast in the restaurant business.
2) Retire

Running a restaurant is not the same as cooking.

I hear many people say that they would love to buy a pub, a restaurant or a small hotel. It sounds so nice, because all that they see is the time they spend as a guest. They do not see the stuff that goes on behind the scenes. The fact that you have no social life, because you work all the time.

yes, do something you like, but understand that running a business is not the same as retiring. Not by a long shot.

If cooking is your passion, why not do catering? You can decide when and how much work you take and you won't be making the same kind of food day in day out. You could decide to have only Friday and Saturday parties. That would mean you will be doing your prep on Thursday, parties on Friday and Saturday and finish on Sunday. Once you have that rolling, you will still have plenty of time to be retired while still being able to do what you like.