Software as a profession sucks, a rant.

[darose-prQxUZoa2zOsTnJN9+BGXg at public.gmane.org (David Rosenstrauch)]

On 10/22/2009 05:40 PM, Richard Pieri wrote:
> On Oct 22, 2009, at 1:28 PM, theBlueSage wrote:
>> Big Company == Higher Wages == Boring work/slave mentality.
>>
>> Small company == Smaller wages == Interesting innovative work
> 
> I disagree.  I've worked as a sysadmin for small, medium and large  
> companies and I have to say that the size of the company has little  
> bearing on pay and type of work.  What matters is senior management  
> and what it collectively wants out of the company.  A smaller company  
> with a cash cow that management simply wants to milk to death is going  
> to have a boring work/slave mentality and below average salaries.  A  
> larger company with management that wants to build on success and  
> branch out in new directions and crush the competition can have above  
> average salaries and interesting work.

But that's exactly the point:  large companies for the most part are - 
by definition - in "milk the cash cow" mode.  As a function of their 
size and maturity in their market, most large companies are not risk 
takers and don't branch out in new directions.  (At least not until some 
other company has "proved" the new direction first.)  There's a few 
exceptions to this rule (e.g., Apple) but very few.

DR