Internet complaining gets eyeballs. Look at this comment thread. Look at the position in the HN queue.
I'm not a fan of it. I understand the author's complaints and frustrations (I am also "chronologically-challenged"), but I have found that complaining doesn't really buy me much. I'll do a minor whine, from time to time (usually about the ageism in tech), but, for the most part, I try to bring some light to the conversation.
I write native (Swift) apps for Apple systems. I tend to avoid the "bleeding edge," as that isn't really where Ship lives, but I think that the way I do things, results in very good software (note that I didn't say "better software," as comparing against others only pisses people off, and doesn't buy me anything -unlike a lot of folks, I'm not in competition with anyone).
Of course, that doesn't prevent others from sneering at me, but that's their burden. I'm not exactly sure what benefit it gives them, as I am no threat.
If people like the way I do things, and want to improve that, then I am often fairly helpful, but I am not really into standing in the street, yelling at passing cars. I have better things to do.
Swift is only 7 years old, one of the newest languages/tools in existence. This is an implicit argument against the author's case.
One might perhaps argue that Swift's newness/modernness is an exception, that it's "one of the good ones" when it comes to new systems. But this doesn't really work. Using Swift for native GUI app building is platform-specific, and writing native apps for other platforms requires other tools. If Swift represents an improvement on what came before, it implies that such improvements are needed on other platforms also. (If it doesn't represent an improvement, why are you using it?) This also implies that cross-platform solutions might be useful - like Electron or React Native!
Being chronologically challenged doesn't actually prevent one from understanding the driving forces behind modern software technology. Certainly, fads and cargo cults exist, driven in part by people's inevitably incomplete understanding and desire to follow practices that others seem to be using successfully. But to be able to distinguish between the fads and the useful advancements requires a better understanding than the OP exhibits.
Complaining seems like a perfectly fine activity to me if there's some valid content in it. But it becomes fairly useless otherwise, except possibly as you say for driving social media engagement.
New is not necessarily bad. Old is not necessarily good. It all depends on what we are doing, and what our goals are.
I also use PHP to write my backends. It works nicely, for the scope of my needs. I’ve been writing in that, for over twenty years. My servers work quite well, but aren’t particularly “buzzword-compliant.”
I’m not really a server programmer, though. If I need a backend to be more intense than what I’m capable of doing, then I’ll hire someone to write it, using a more robust stack, and I need to be prepared to open my wallet, as I have high standards. Good engineers will always cost more. They’re worth it. They will frequently also have gray hair; regardless of the tech.
I'm not a fan of it. I understand the author's complaints and frustrations (I am also "chronologically-challenged"), but I have found that complaining doesn't really buy me much. I'll do a minor whine, from time to time (usually about the ageism in tech), but, for the most part, I try to bring some light to the conversation.
I write native (Swift) apps for Apple systems. I tend to avoid the "bleeding edge," as that isn't really where Ship lives, but I think that the way I do things, results in very good software (note that I didn't say "better software," as comparing against others only pisses people off, and doesn't buy me anything -unlike a lot of folks, I'm not in competition with anyone).
Of course, that doesn't prevent others from sneering at me, but that's their burden. I'm not exactly sure what benefit it gives them, as I am no threat.
If people like the way I do things, and want to improve that, then I am often fairly helpful, but I am not really into standing in the street, yelling at passing cars. I have better things to do.