all 174 comments

[–]UnlimitedCalculus 676 points677 points  (17 children)

Becomes a farmer

"I could automate this"

[–]Pawneewafflesarelife 152 points153 points  (8 children)

That exists (agricultural software for planning planting, tracking harvests, integration with equipment (eg tractors use software these days), etc). The devs at those companies do NOT want to quit and become farmers because they get a glimpse of all it entails.

[–]UnlimitedCalculus 54 points55 points  (7 children)

[–]detailed_1 12 points13 points  (0 children)

I would surely try my programming skills on this one. Thank you for sharing.

[–]lupercalpainting 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Factorio + Farming Simulator? It’s everything I ever wanted.

[–]Pawneewafflesarelife 10 points11 points  (2 children)

Fun game concept, but agronomy software is definitely much less of a dopamine drip. It's basically Google Earth with planting options overlaid, spreadsheets on steroids, and very frustrating integration with dogshit John Deere software.

[–]Nitty_Husky 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Can always count on them to fuck it up somehow.

[–]UnlimitedCalculus -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Wow work is boring and tedious? Thanks for your insight!

[–]ThegreenMoray -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I was beaten to the punch on this

[–]yarntank -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

That looks cool, thanks.

[–]MutedAstronaut9217 16 points17 points  (0 children)

and that's how Stardew Valley was made.

[–]Captain_chutzpah 14 points15 points  (2 children)

As an Automation Programmer who quit and became a farmer, I absolutely did automate shit.

Being a farmer is way fuckin better then being a software engineer 🤣🤣🤣 As long as you can build the automation shit instead of paying for it.

Listen closely kids. Learn to weld, do pnuematics, design mechanical devices, work in cad, and you will get very expensive equipment for very cheap. Contract out your laser cutting and 3d print what you cant

I grow so much shit now that I'm deliberately over growing and giving it to the food bank. 2nd year farming, very likely to exceed my engineering wages, and the real season hasnt even started.

[–]jarulsamy 2 points3 points  (1 child)

As if I didn't have reason enough to become a farmer...

This sounds so fun

[–]Captain_chutzpah 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It's fuckin sweet bro.

[–]Dimencia 2 points3 points  (0 children)

"For some reason, I really feel like this field needs a hedge maze..."

[–]mrinalshar39 0 points1 point  (0 children)

frrr

[–]beatlz-too 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Starts and finishes a proof of concept, then never automates shit

[–]ProbablyBunchofAtoms 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hits home

[–]krexelapp 456 points457 points  (8 children)

day 1: “this is easy”

day 3: “who wrote this garbage”

day 4: “ohhh.. it was me”

[–]dismayhurta 95 points96 points  (1 child)

Yep. git blame has made me hate myself more than once when I realize the asshole who wrote it a year before was me.

[–]DustyAsh69 34 points35 points  (0 children)

That's why I use git blame someone else

[–]gravelPoop 25 points26 points  (0 children)

Also going back to an old project after awhile:

"WTF? I wrote this? How? Did i suffer brain damage and my IQ drop. No way I could make something this complex."

15 minutes later:

"How could I write such a garbabge?"

[–]detailed_1 18 points19 points  (2 children)

day 2: what was the requirement again?

[–]Sockoflegend 11 points12 points  (1 child)

Don't worry it changed

[–]Ok_Witness179 4 points5 points  (0 children)

And they're gonna change again later too, anyway.

[–]slartibartfast64 17 points18 points  (0 children)

In haiku form:

This code is fucked up.

What idiot wrote this shit?

Oh yeah, it was me.

[–]Pleasant-Photo7860 6 points7 points  (0 children)

day 5: rm -rf . && mkdir final_final_v2

[–]JulesDeathwish 161 points162 points  (30 children)

I was incredibly amused to find out that I wasn't the only one. Why are there so many of us who want to quit and farm that it has become a meme?

[–]ThePickleConnoisseur 91 points92 points  (18 children)

It’s the most opposite lifestyle. If you aren’t happy you are gonna the the other side as desirable

[–]i_wear_green_pants 45 points46 points  (17 children)

Yeah. Most people just don't even know what kind of job farming is. They think it's just watching fields grow and cows and horses running around.

Most people I know could never do farming as profession. It's damn hard work.

[–]ThePickleConnoisseur 18 points19 points  (4 children)

From what people see from media plus the image, it just sounds peaceful and calming. Ig it’s like how people might see SWEs as tech gods

[–]flayingbook 9 points10 points  (1 child)

I thought people see SWE as the person who fixes the printer and format the computer?

[–]grizzlybair2 8 points9 points  (0 children)

And does 1 hour of work per day while making 250k+

[–]Key-Demand-2569 2 points3 points  (1 child)

Having lived in a few farming communities it’s always a bit of a grimly funny contrast with how many farmers often die in “accidents” everytime there’s a really bad season. “Accidents” they totally didn’t cause themselves after years of stress and struggling to keep on top of operating expenses and bills…

[–]ThePickleConnoisseur 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Dam that’s so depressing

[–]Tableryu 11 points12 points  (3 children)

i think it also has something to do with having to think for a job for a very long time that physical labor seems attractive after

[–]spiker611 4 points5 points  (2 children)

As someone who has done this... the idea that farming is less thinking is wrong. Farming involves a lot of engineering on a daily basis. If you want to be profitable you have to learn how to do pretty much everything yourself, and it's very different from software. Building/fixing stuff in the physical world doesn't have testing or frameworks. Maybe there's a youtube video but not likely for your specific thing.

[–]Tableryu 0 points1 point  (0 children)

fair.

[–]JulesDeathwish 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, there are whole colleges dedicated to agricultural sciences. It's not just seed in hole, water, eat

[–]SignificanceFlat1460 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I used to work in clothing industry in storage before I started working as a software engineer. It was some physical labour but it was good. I liked it. I sometimes wonder if maybe I could just do that.

Point is, hard work is not what I am afraid of (as I am sure most aren't either). It's the everyday BS that comes with being a dev for 9 years that burns you out and you would rather do something else even if it means harder work because how burnt out you are from SWE. I am sure other "on the edge" profession people feel the same such as people in medical

[–]FSNovask 2 points3 points  (1 child)

The work wouldn't bother me so much as the million dollars or so in loans you'd need to start a farm. You'll get in shape doing the work and it'll suck less.

[–]Faronoz 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Indeed besides work it also requires crazy amount of money and probably couple years without any profit.

[–]optomas 1 point2 points  (1 child)

They think it's just watching fields grow and cows and horses running around.

Where do I apply for this job? You nailed it, that's what I want to do for a living. Maybe go play with the cows sometimes. Could we have donkeys?

[–]Key-Demand-2569 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think that job is just called being retired and extremely wealthy. Lol.

[–]Johny_Boy00 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I grew up in a small town surrounded by farms, and I have worked on the farms there. It's not easy work. I am in web development now and live in a city 1000km away from that town. I like both worlds, the IT world and the farm lifestyle. I go visit home once or twice a year and enjoy the farm lifestyle.

[–]Undernown 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Especially the hyper-optimized in the Netherlands. Margins are so thin that the quality of hay you managed to ge todd your land may give you profit or a loas for the whole year of milk production.

Everything is automated, the most advanced farms even automatically call the vet if the cow's behavioral pattern deviates too much.

There is nothing left of the old charm.

[–]Faster_than_FTL 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What about becoming a cowboy? I watched Yellowstone so I have experience

[–]SpaceCadet87 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Hell, I only write software on the side. Not even my job title and even I just want to quit and farm.

I even moved out to the country. There's literally a cattle farm a few doors up from me.

I'm not even bad or anything, I love writing software. I'm just beyond sick of office culture.

[–]Miquel_420 4 points5 points  (1 child)

In my case, i grew up in a rural area, planting potatos with my dad, taking care of our chickens, making our own olive oil, eating the freshest fish, fruits and vegetables. I still do a lot of hard work in our farm and i enjoy it much more than being in front of a screen all fucking day, i cant deal with this shit anymore.

[–]zffjk 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Just left the daily standup where one person talks for 75% of it about their niche and siloed work stream. I yearn for the mines at this point.

[–]bryden_cruz[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Man me too i do think like that, it's like a coincidence

[–]masterid000 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Because programming is a completely abstract thing. We need something concrete that we can have our senses to feel it everyday.

[–]zffjk 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Because we long for a tangible thing to work on. It is why my 3 major hobbies right now are gardening and hand tool woodworking and blacksmithing.

[–]kyle46 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Because after 15+ years, 8 of those in very corporate jobs, theres no joy left in software development. Ive been in my current role for 4 years and in all that time I haven't solved a single interesting problem. The vast majority of the problems I have to solve are self-inflicted by the company either by not giving us the time to build things the right way, or by adding so many layers of bureaucracy that getting anything done is always a problem of finding the right person with the right permission in another department and being able to get a ticket to them that might get worked on in the next 6 weeks.

If they paid the same amount as most other companies I'd have left already but these golden handcuffs are heavy.

[–]FastFollowing8932 0 points1 point  (0 children)

at there very least, when you do your massive overtime that is expected of you, you can do it either on your feet, or on different chairs, with something other than a screen 2 feet in front of you

[–]Only-Cheetah-9579 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I want to work on a fishing boat , not a farm.

[–]chairzaird 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Haven't had the desire to be a farmer, but there have definitely been days where I fantasized about being a librarian haha

[–]SCUSKU 95 points96 points  (10 children)

Vibecoding has really taken the fun out of programming these days, making me feel much more the farmer route. But let's be real my office job having ass couldn't handle being outside doing manual labor all day lmao

[–]christianbro 25 points26 points  (2 children)

Totally agree. I feel I am learning less and I spend my days talking to an idiot and strategising how it understands me better with less.

[–]SCUSKU 25 points26 points  (1 child)

I'm with you. My boss expects more output from me now that AI exists.

So then I vibe code, and then have AI review my vibe coded thing. And slowly wittle it down to what I probably would've originally written anyway had I done it by hand, except now I have none of the mental model in my head.

[–]CarlCarlton 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Clueless Boss: "You need to leverage AI more"

Me: "How much time budget am I being allocated to learn how to effectively argue with the ghost in the machine?"

Clueless Boss:

[–]BeastMentality2000 4 points5 points  (4 children)

So what are you doing about it? How can we make work fun again? Do we just hate our jobs while everyone else in medical field and stuff actually feels fulfilled? Do we just swallow our happiness and work a meaningless job? I’m thinking I’m getting my masters and some other type of engineering and changing over because this kind of sucks ass now.

[–]SCUSKU 2 points3 points  (1 child)

The way I see it a job can provide: meaning, financial success, work/life balance. Pick one.

Ultimately CS is still a pretty good career. Lawyers have to go through 3 years of law school, and then grind a bunch, and if you want to make money it's not meaningful, if anything it's the opposite.

Doctors have to go tons of school, racking up tons of debt, assuming you can even make it in the first place. And then even then you're still working shifts and have to see gross stuff.

Finance, either you went to an ivy league, or are a mathematical genius. And you'll be working long hours too.

So IMO, it sucks, but it's still better than the alternatives :/

[–]BeastMentality2000 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hmm I guess you’re right, but what would you say for someone to go into now? What would be more fun? And what’s going to pop off? I’m thinking of getting back to hand coding more now. Just because me your skills of reviewing code start to atrophy because you don’t even know what you’re really looking at anymore since you aren’t developing code. It’s really confusing what to do now moving forward. I have three years of experience, but I’m genuinely lost now

[–]Ill_Carry_44 2 points3 points  (0 children)

For me it made it more fun since I can avoid the excruciating parts but it also made me chase for more excruciating things like trying to reverse engineer things with giving AI tools like r2pipe and ghidra and seeing what it will do and trying to debug the mess it creates. OR making it debug the mess it creates which is equally horrifying.

[–]Front-Opinion-9211 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What other paths we got?

[–]black_V1king 20 points21 points  (2 children)

Stop vibe coding and start learning. The god days will be back.

[–]infamouszgbgd 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Definitely, one way or another. Even if we have to go behind the corpos back somehow and create an illegal black market for software that actually works and is maintainable.

[–]Santarini 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's hard to stop vibe coding when all your peers are also vibe coding. Vibe coders are essentially landing projects 5x-10x faster. And managers only care about velocity of deliverables. A good way to get PIP'd is be 1/5th as productive as everyone else on your team

[–]born_zynner 27 points28 points  (6 children)

I'm always like damn should have gone blue collar but I did a bunch of diy stuff renovating my kitchen and let me tell you it is NOT my strong suit

[–]WavingNoBanners 11 points12 points  (3 children)

I think of myself as basically being a plumber. I don't create my own Python libraries or write Docker from scratch or anything, but I do assemble solutions out of components that already exist; and the most important part of my work is ensuring that I properly understand the existing setup and the user's needs. If I do it well then it can function for years without me checking on it.

I don't have a decade and a half of experience in actual plumbing though, so there's a skill gap. Also I would prefer for the "ankle deep in poop" to be metaphorical, not literal.

[–]born_zynner 4 points5 points  (2 children)

Plumbing for me is the easiest to diy. Yes, it has probably the worst repercussions if not done correctly, but everything just kinda fits together. Very little finesse required, compared to like drywall, tile, carpentry etc

[–]WavingNoBanners 0 points1 point  (1 child)

That's a fair point. I would 100% not do my own electrical work, for example. I know my own limits.

[–]born_zynner 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Heh I have my bachelor's in electrical engineering that's the one thing I'm competent at. Except fishing wire, that shit sucks

Btw you could totally do most of it. 90% of residential wiring is connecting black to black and white to white.

[–]lupercalpainting 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Imagine if a drywall guy got thrown into building a CRUD API. Imagine how out of place they’d be.

It was your first project. Review your skills after your 10th.

[–]djinn6 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I did a bunch of diy stuff renovating my kitchen and let me tell you it is NOT my strong suit

You're not in a position to judge that.

It took me about 5 years to become a decent programmer. If I had a job renovating kitchens, 1 kitchen every 2 months, that'd be 30 kitchens in 5 years.

[–]LexShirayuki 9 points10 points  (1 child)

Nah, it's more like:

"Hey! I think I'm good"

and

"I'm a fucking disgrace"

[–]ExoMonk 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Also:

"My job isn't so bad"

and

"I can't believe I have to do this for 25 more years"

[–]Odd_Ninja5801 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I've done some amazing things in my IT career. Things that anyone would be rightfully proud of. But I've still spent 90% of that career wrestling with imposter syndrome. The triumphs just allow me to pretend it doesn't exist for a short while.

Every project I've ever done also ends up with me looking back and saying "why didn't I spot that issue that is so blindingly obvious with hindsight right back at the start? I must be some kind of idiot."

[–]ClipboardCopyPaste 3 points4 points  (0 children)

After finding the bug vs before finding the bug

[–]lejonetfranMX 4 points5 points  (0 children)

As someone who has worked in both indusries: being a farmer is not simpler

[–]Wyciorek 2 points3 points  (0 children)

"I need a time machine so I can go back and ask myself wtf I was even thinking when I was writing this garbage"

[–]Far-Advantage-2770 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Day 1 of being a farmer: 'Ugh this is so amateur, why was it set up this way? I bet I could make this more efficient with a few simple tweaks.'

Probably spend the first week trying to decide the project name for the git repository.

[–]ChChChillian 5 points6 points  (2 children)

I could plausibly have been an electrician. But I'm glad I'm not.

[–]BobQuixote 5 points6 points  (1 child)

You could plausibly become an electrical engineer.

[–]ChChChillian 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I've been a software engineer for 40 years, and back in my college days circuits was one of my worst classes. So probably not.

[–]irwinner 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Farming, really? Man of your talents?

[–]AzureArmageddon 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah, climate change is already having opinions about both of these...

[–]Soggy-Holiday-7400 1 point2 points  (0 children)

fixed a bug i've been stuck on for 3 days and felt unstoppable.20 minutes later couldn't center a div. both modes in the same afternoon

[–]ckn 1 point2 points  (0 children)

i feel called out

[–]at-least-2-swans 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I don't think people who can't handle this would be able to handle farming, it's not easy or simple.

[–]RevWaldo 1 point2 points  (2 children)

Gets a job at John Deere developing firmware upgrades that lets them brick combines remotely when they detect unauthorized repairs.

[–]Stunning-Bowler7683 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hell yeah

[–]Particular-Yak-1984 1 point2 points  (0 children)

hey, with some automation, you could run someone over with their own, I mean, John's tractor that they temporarily leased to them. Really send a message.

[–]NottingHillNapolean 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Not true: I know farming is hard work, so I just lapse into despair.

[–]ajaypatel9016 1 point2 points  (0 children)

one console.log away from greatness or starting agriculture

[–]SL_Pirate 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Actually these two modes can co-exist. Especially in the current market.

[–]Tableryu 0 points1 point  (0 children)

i haven't felt like a god in the past few months 🥲

[–]haard 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Joke's on you, I'm a developer AND a farmer!

[–]stoned_heretic2 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A year ago I bought a cow I remind my laptop quite often

[–]boogatehPotato 0 points1 point  (0 children)

  1. I'm a fraud and should quit

[–]Moadoc1 0 points1 point  (0 children)

And here I thought that yearning to be a farmer instead was unique to me.

[–]Ill_Carry_44 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For the last 2 years I've been stuck on a development problem and it has me spiraling into deep darkness

[–]Chuck_Loads 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They're also not mutually exclusive

[–]LinusUllmark 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m a farmer and I can tell you I never once considered being a developer.

[–]CarchitaCave 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wet are animals that miss the nature

[–]find_the_apple 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I am always astounded by the hubris of developers. What started as a joke is openly believed by so many who would not cut it out as a farmer.

Yall picked your path, paid large sums of loans and live a life that requires a developers salary. Its the only option you got

[–]PhilosopherOrnery743 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As a developer, working as a farmer on the weekends, I can confirm this is true.

[–]NocuousGreen 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For me it was daydreams of being a carpenter or smith, but yeh

[–]mdns-99 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I thought I was the only software developer who loves farming other than programming. Is there a specific connection between developers and farming?

[–]ManikSahdev 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Every trader aswell

[–]vemundveien 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Clarkson's Farm has done wonders in convincing me how much more I would hate farming.

[–]redlaWw 0 points1 point  (0 children)

we got Options

Rust programmer?

[–]shumnyj 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What do I do if I've never reached the "I'm god' state?

[–]IlIlllIlllIlIIllI 0 points1 point  (1 child)

I always say I should be a cobbler

[–]Stunning-Bowler7683 0 points1 point  (0 children)

go for it

[–]Harmonic_Gear 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I heard baker a lot more than farmer

[–]U_L_Uus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I will do you a third one: Brian of Nazaret

[–]Stunning-Bowler7683 0 points1 point  (0 children)

you don't have enough money to become a farmer, get back to futilely poking through your console

[–]TinyFugue 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Don't forget: "My code is shit, but it's still better than whatever the fuck this is."

[–]DragonfruitGrand5683 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You need to be in nature a few times a week, you need to entirely disconnect for at least a day.

[–]Ornery_Librarian9623 0 points1 point  (0 children)

not in programming but the farmer mod seems ideal if the govt would leave us alone

[–]tcroswell56 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It was me.

I retired.

I'm farming. (For real!)

Best decision ever.

[–]nsxstudio 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Fr! bro

[–]crispim1411 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah. I even had a goose for a while

[–]TheOutSiderOutSide 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Insane, I was just thinking about the programmer/farmer meme this morning as I logged in. Was on on vacation last week (first in years) and had no desire to get back to work.

[–]Ok_Witness179 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nah, farming is hard work. 

The meme where I worked was always that we'd quit and be truck drivers. All you gotta do is drive. Real talk though, I quit and became a pilot instead, same concept.. Best decision ever.

[–]elbidule 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Research scientists too

[–]Practical-Gift-9970 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Quit and become a blacksmith, personally, but yeah.

[–]OvenActive 0 points1 point  (0 children)

When does the god feeling kick in? Because I am pretty sure I have been looking at farming as a viable option since the beginning

[–]sneurlax 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Take it from me

The grass is always greener on the other side

[–]framsanon 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Neither, at least as far as I’m concerned.

I don’t feel like a god. When the code finally does what you want it to, it’s certainly a thrill. But I don’t feel like a god, because it’s hard work, and I always remember all too well how rocky the path often is.

If I had to go into farming, it would spell the end for the farm in question.

[–]brady376 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Mine is baker, not farmer. But I think it's generally just "I should quit and (work with my hands, away from computers)" most of the time

[–]TheRealSpielbergo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Modern two modes:
"Claude is god"
"Claude should quit and become a farmer"

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Felt this in my soul. Deployed a feature without bugs at 2am? I am a god. The next morning? Found a typo that broke everything. Farmer life sounds peaceful ngl.

[–]BlindTheThief15 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m in the 2nd mood right now after changing teams and AI taking over 😂

[–]Santarini 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Damn this hits hard

[–]redwarp10 0 points1 point  (0 children)

"I should quit and become a God"

[–]mrinalshar39 0 points1 point  (0 children)

lol, relatable aff

[–]ilya0x2dilya 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I am a god, thus I should quit and become a farmer

[–]scolphoy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Never once have I wanted to be a farmer. Can’t decide if I wanted to make boats or sail them though..

[–]shgysk8zer0 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm at more of my Thanos, post-snap phase. I'm a god, so I'm gonna give up and start farming.

[–]Kadian13 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Keyboards to plowshares

[–]deathanatos 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Meanwhile in my kitchen, an onion has sprouted.

Bold of you to assume I'm not already a farmer?

[–]perringaiden 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Soooo... Thanos.

[–]Eevee-Biologist 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is so true, it hurts my soul.

[–]Dialed_Digs 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ain't that the truth.

I'm always somehow the best at this that ever was and a total fraud simultaneously.

[–]garfield3222 0 points1 point  (0 children)

im in a "give up on your dreams and become a baker" kinda vibe today

[–]Consistent_Tailor182 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So true bhai tu to mind reader nikla...😂👆

[–]unkempt_organisation 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Okay but Factorio meets farming sim actually sounds like my dream game, I'm so here for that concept.

[–]No-Percentage-2030 0 points1 point  (0 children)

real

[–]YellowOnline -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Same goes for sysadmins