So, I was recently in a meeting, trying to convince the advisory committee for a set of sites I manage that we should move off of Domino and into mod_perl/MySQL for our web sites. These people are non-technical, and luckily I had one influential person there who understood my vision and was a strong proponent of it.
One thing this proponent said that resonated with me was that I was a “craftsman,” meaning I created sites, cared about them, and understood them. I was flattered, of course, but that also go me thinking: that’s a pretty good description of many perlmonks, I’d say.
When I think craftsman, I think someone who enjoys their craft, is proud of their work, derives satisfaction from it, and someone for whom “work” doesn’t always feel like work. It’s a craft.
I guess I like historical precedents for things: I kind of think of myself as a furniture maker or something.
The only thing that doesn’t carry over is the idea of permanence: you make a table, and it’s there forever.
However, you make a perl script and who knows how long it will last. I guess I’m wondering what effect this lack of permanence behind my “craft” is going to have.
I feel like I’m kind of at a crossroads: do I want to take the perlmonk fork? Will I be satisfied with it ten years from now? I don’t work for money, I work for satisfaction (hence all my jobs have been with non-profits, of course it’s nice to have both, though).
I’m certainly satisfied now, but down the road, will I feel I’ve made a permanent contribution? This may be a question for the older monks here.
In reply to Permanence and Programming as a "craft" by Hero Zzyzzx
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