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theorchid

1,639 karma · joined October 24, 2025

Developer, team lead, and founder. 10 years in startups.

Blog: orchidfiles.com

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theorchid··on Programming is Art
But the article isn't titled "Programming is art for me", is it?

And the article clearly stated that I belong to the type of people for whom programming is a way to make money. It went on to say that there is another type of person for whom programming is an art.

theorchid··on Programming is Art
So where's the contradiction? For many people, programming is art. They enjoy writing code. I'm just not one of those people.

For me, programming is a way to make money and build projects.

theorchid··on Programming is Art
> No sign of commentary before late 2025.

This blog is written under a pseudonym. Therefore, there is no history for this blog before 2025. Social media accounts and GitHub are also set up under this brand.

> Which has all of the hallmarks of a Claude generated essay (or just a human failing the Turing test).

This was my first blog post, and I used AI to edit it. I wrote 10 drafts before I ended up with the version I published on my blog. And I don't like this post. I wrote it myself. AI only suggested phrasing that I thought sounded good. In the next post, I also used AI to edit the text, but to a lesser extent. Since then, I haven't used AI at all when writing or editing texts.

theorchid··on Programming is Art
> So, what have you been doing for the last 10 years and why i see only 2026 in your github?

I spent 10 years making money. I didn't see the point in spending time on open source. I never committed any code to open source until 2026. Because, for me, programming isn't art or a hobby.

theorchid··on Show HN: Ungate – use Claude and GPT subscriptions in Cursor without API costs
There is a risk. However, users of the extension have not reported any account suspensions. There were suspensions earlier this year, but Anthropic later unlocked these accounts.
theorchid··on Stop Telling Me to Ask an LLM
I once wrote a similar essay on this topic. When I talk to people, they forward my questions to AI and send me the AI’s answer: https://orchidfiles.com/im-tired-of-ai-generated-answers/
theorchid··on Stop Telling Me to Ask an LLM
— I thought about this and found there are options A, B, and C of doing X, I like A more but C is the fastest; what do you think?

— Ask Claude.

theorchid··on I found 10k GitHub repositories distributing Trojan malware
Thanks. I checked the text using the gptzero service. It shows that 100% of the text was generated by AI. I removed the link from my article.

I checked out the other pages on his website. And his other articles. AI-generated content is absolutely everywhere.

Oh, I'm so tired of AI-generated texts.

theorchid··on I found 10k GitHub repositories distributing Trojan malware
Why do you think it wasn't written by a human?
theorchid··on I found 10k GitHub repositories distributing Trojan malware
Thank you. I've added a link to your article in my article.
theorchid··on I found 10k GitHub repositories distributing Trojan malware
Hmm. Using a script. That's explained in the article)
theorchid··on I'm Tired of Talking to AI
The fact that I don't like phone calls and that I don't like talking to AI can certainly coexist in the same person without being manipulation.
theorchid··on I manage teams without a single call
> Building a team to operate based on your own personal preferences is selfish leadership... or even dictatorship.

Is there really anything wrong with that? Most managers manage their teams the way they're used to. Founders build their startups the way they're used to—based on their own experience and mistakes. Founders and managers don't adapt to the team's needs. Instead, they look for a team that will adapt to them.

theorchid··on I manage teams without a single call
I agree. But we can call each other just to chat about things unrelated to work. Just to catch up.
theorchid··on I manage teams without a single call
Sorry, I forgot to add “I’ve never met a single person, except for managers and recruiters”.
theorchid··on I manage teams without a single call
It really depends on the people on the team. If they prefer to call each other and hear each other's voices, there's no need to push them to read emails. If you need people to read text, then you need a different kind of team. Every team simply needs its own management style.
theorchid··on I manage teams without a single call
> your job IS the meetings

No

> You’re responsible for a remit and the performance of people inside the group

Yes

One is not the cause of the other.

theorchid··on I manage teams without a single call
> As a manager, you should learn to change this about yourself rather than imposing your work style on your team.

I think we need a different approach here. I shouldn't have to change anything about myself, because we're slaves to our habits. I shouldn't force this on people who don't want to work this way. I just need to work with teams that are willing to work this way. And so far, I've always managed to find such teams and such people.

theorchid··on I manage teams without a single call
I think it depends on the person. For me, for example, text work best for any kind of question, no matter how complex. On the other hand, for simple questions, when I just want to chat, I'll opt for a call or meet in person.
theorchid··on I manage teams without a single call
There have been times when a founder was constantly on calls but allowed me to manage teams without them. He also continued to hold occasional calls with the team, but I wasn't present for those calls. I provided him with written progress reports. I didn't try to convince him to stop holding calls, and he didn't try to convince me that calls were mandatory. But such cases are rare.
theorchid··on I manage teams without a single call
I completely agree with you. I was just writing about my approach to project management and manage teams. It works perfectly for me. I suggest this approach at the companies where I work, but I don't recommend it to absolutely everyone. Everyone manages projects in their own way.
theorchid··on Tell HN: Stop building software for people, build it for agents instead
I don't want to live in a world ruled by AI agents. I sincerely hope that superintelligence won't emerge while I'm still alive. I don't want to live in this dystopia.
theorchid··on Ask HN: How does ranking work for Tell HN?
> if they don't think it belongs on the site

But then it wouldn't have gotten any upvotes and wouldn't have hit the front page, would it?

theorchid··on Tell HN: Don't make your startup multilingual
You have to create keys, copy the text into a file, and when editing the text, you need to update that file instead of the code. When removing the interface, don’t forget to delete the keys from the file. When moving the interface, you need to reorder the keys in the file. When changing the meaning of the text, you need to change the key name. The benefit of these actions is almost zero if the startup has no users.
theorchid··on Tell HN: Don't make your startup multilingual
Are you suggesting that we build a multilingual architecture right from the start of the startup? Without testing the hypothesis, without testing the market and demand?
theorchid··on Tell HN: Typical AI Conversation
That's why I'm really tired of interacting with AI. It helps me a lot with development. But in every other aspect, not so much.
theorchid··on Tell HN: I haven't finished a single project 100%
Since there were 0 upvotes, there's nothing interesting in the post :)
theorchid··on Show HN: Ungate – use Claude and GPT subscriptions in Cursor without API costs
This method is used to save money on token costs. When you purchase a $20 GPT subscription, you receive tokens worth approximately $1,000. When you purchase a $100 Claude Max subscription, you receive tokens worth $2,000.
theorchid··on Show HN: Ungate – use Claude and GPT subscriptions in Cursor without API costs
To save money on token costs. When you purchase a $20 GPT subscription, you receive tokens worth approximately $1,000. When you purchase a $100 Claude Max subscription, you receive tokens worth $2,000.
theorchid··on The operating cost of adult and gambling startups
Thank you very much for reading! Yes, the purpose of this essay was to shed light on the challenges of launching startups in stigmatized niches and the consequences of working in them.
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