Post #1991757

2026-04-28 16:17 UTC

Note that this isn't a "back in my day..." post as much as a description of how easy it is to get screwed over by _deterministic_ tools in an environment you mostly control. Modern systems have so many layers abstraction between an admin and the actual hardware, there are so many hidden points of failure and latent vulnerabilities that a) it's understandable that someone with tenuous employment (i.e. contractor held to a Jira ticket clearance rate or time window) would turn to a chatbot especially if chatbot use was now a KPI and a mandate, and b) if we couldn't avoid Blackboard-level disasters in an age of deterministic tools and more mentally tractable architectures, what makes anyone believe a chatbot can do any better today? We've painted ourselves into a corner chasing velocity and scale and layer upon layer of abstraction and the same people pushing all this are now pushing the magic expensive pirated text extrusion engine as a solution. Do you honestly need all that to build a stupid web page? "If I want to meet my KPIs and keep my pittance of health insurance I do." I can't fault that logic but seriously wonder why more tech workers haven't invested more of their energy into unions and guillotines. That supposes there's any discretionary energy and support networks left and that anything can survive the decades of libertarian propaganda. I suppose the silver lining in all this is with chatbots, you don't need to organize and recruit saboteurs to fight back; the whole system has evolved to tear itself apart on its own.

Replies (3)

@arclight@oldbytes.space 2026-04-28 22:25

We really need to organize to take back control of our technology and our jobs and our profession. We are failing ourselves, the people who use and are affected by our systems, and the generation that is entering the field. Until we build more solidarity than a bucket full of lobsters, this BS is just going to keep happening. I'm lucky that I had my original profession to go back to when I left ops in 2008. Not everyone can or wants to work on literal radioactive sludge cleanup and ideally nobody should have to make that choice given how soulcrushingly awful dev & ops have become (OTOH it's a really easy choice if you've ever managed Blackboard. Beyond all probability, the company is worse than its software. As an example, radioactive sludge has never intentionally and actively made my life worse. Sludge mostly just sits there emitting energy and hydrogen.) Nobody should have to choose between using broken black-box automation that risks their code, systems, and skills and quitting their job. But people do every damn day - how do we break this cycle of abuse and incompetence?

Open ##1991758
@strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz 2026-04-28 23:34

@arclight > I can't fault that logic but seriously wonder why more tech workers haven't invested more of their energy into unions and guillotines That reminds me I've been meaning to find a tech workers union to join. Been challenging to find one active in Aotearoa, and as I work from home, it's not like I can unionise my workplace any more than I already have : P

Open ##1991789
@drwho@masto.hackers.town 2026-04-30 16:57

@arclight Try to organize, get reported to HR, get cut in the next round of layoffs.

Open ##1991790