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Comment by pauljonas | Hacker News Reader

Not a big fan of the Joel on Software but this is an amazing article... ...I used to be one of those "house programmers" too!

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I'm an in-house programmer (left grad school because I thought I'd get some money). The job is painful. The layers of bureaucracy are suffocating. It probably doesn't help that I'm actually working for contractor that produces in-house software for the federal government.

Oh well, at least its expected that an employee will move around a bit.

The way to combat that is to convince your bosses that you completely understand why the business exists (to make money). Convince them that they can use technology to be better at that and the job will become a lot more interesting and fun.

If you're going to be stuck doing something shitty, it's well worth the effort to try and make it less shitty.

...until the auditors come in and tell you the shareholders don't like you innovating like that.

Trust me, even when your bosses are onside, in-house programming is a PITA. You're better off talking to your boss about how the product you made on your own is better than some of their in-house stuff, and that he/she should buy it.

Of course, that's got it's own set of problems.

Yeah. I've got a startup that's two weeks from launching (soft launch unfortunately) and I'm unbelievably excited about it. I'm giving this everything I've got because I don't think I can go another year or two not doing my own thing.

I currently work as an in house guy and it really is a PITA.

I'm with you. Good luck in your venture. Make sure you let us know how it turns out!

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