How can you not go crazy doing the same thing over and over? My first commercial software project was in BASIC, back on a Commodore PET, it was a billing app for a shared telex system, but there's not way on earth I'd want to be still using BASIC, or Pick for that matter. The one constant for me over the years has been Unix (from Apollo, to HP UX, to Sun to Linux) but if you try new tech stacks you'd never want to go back to systems from 40+ years ago.
While I think there's money to be made in maintaining those old systems, I would just go insane not keeping up with technology and using modern stacks. CS has progressed for a reason, the level of abstraction today is so much higher that we don't have to write from scratch all the time, there are well tried and tested components.
Setup=Windows PC && OS=Unix, doesn't seem to make much sense, unless you mean Windows as a terminal (putty et al.)
How can you not go crazy doing the same thing over and over?
Because I'm not doing the same thing over and over. I'm just using the same technology. I rarely encounter things I can't do with it. I love Pick more than anything else I've ever used.
but there's not way on earth I'd want to be still using BASIC, or Pick for that matter
Pick is almost like a cult and for good reason. It's incredibly elegant, simple, and powerful. Most Pick programmers, even after learning newer technologies, still love Pick and use it whenever practical.
but if you try new tech stacks you'd never want to go back to systems from 40+ years ago
Exactly the opposite of my experience. I've tried many tech stacks and have come to appreciate their pros and cons. But I love coming back to "old faithful". With Pick, I spend most of my time on the problem at hand, not the tech stack. Not so true for many more modern technologies.
I would just go insane not keeping up with technology and using modern stacks.
I never said I didn't keep up. I do and I love to. The thing that would make me go insane: not having fresh customers with fresh problems.
CS has progressed for a reason
Make no mistake about it; the biggest reason has been the internet. So much CRUD technology is so powerful and stable, there hasn't been as much need for "progress".
the level of abstraction today is so much higher that we don't have to write from scratch all the time
I never write from scratch. I use the same 30 or 40 building blocks for every project.
there are well tried and tested components
I'd say that Pick's 40 years and millions of apps make it well tried and tested, too.
unless you mean Windows as a terminal (putty et al.)
While I think there's money to be made in maintaining those old systems, I would just go insane not keeping up with technology and using modern stacks. CS has progressed for a reason, the level of abstraction today is so much higher that we don't have to write from scratch all the time, there are well tried and tested components.
Setup=Windows PC && OS=Unix, doesn't seem to make much sense, unless you mean Windows as a terminal (putty et al.)
Now, back to Python...