Okay, so I'm a 20-year-old guy with no idea of programming, and I want to build a career out of it. I like Linux...

Okay, so I'm a 20-year-old guy with no idea of programming, and I want to build a career out of it. I like Linux, and I like open-source / free software.

I would like to make a living out of this without being a wagecuck for a corporation. I would like to work -if possible- with something related to free software.

What should I do, Jow Forums?

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>hasn't been programming since he was 12

You have no chance kiddo

File for unemployment

Give up

Yea you should probably just kill yourself, you literally have no chance of succeeding. The actual process of programming is boring, tiresome and dull, the end result is really all that matters.

Work at redhat/applel/google etc

You can't give up if you haven't started, fagget

pick a programming language
read the CLRS book and implement the pseudocode found there, and do the exercises
read about your chosen language as much as you need for solving the problems presented to you. Studying a language syntax and memorizing functions just for the sake of it is boring as fuck, only the algorithms themselves are fun.

forget the idea of making a living out of making free software, become a freelancer if you don't want to be a regular and safe wagie.

if you dont have a major yet, go to uni for CS or software engineering.
If you do, go to some self-teaching bullshit online. its the best chance you got.

>free software
>apple
?

>clang
>LLVM
>Swift

how do i get a job at redhat
I already know how to program but I don't know how to actually do anything.

I'll tell you exactly what you do and if you listen you'll find happiness.

Start with "The Little Schemer" to get a nice introduction to programmatic thinking and recursion. (And crying over the last 2 chapters).

Then go watch the SICP lectures and try to read some of the book and do the exercises.

Congrats you can now program or at least have a clue.

Now you have two paths before you.

Go learn JS/Python/Go/C# (pick one), find a popular framework, start making projects with it and post it on github. Start contributing to projects in your language if you can.

Congratulations you've achieved, "Corporate Job!".

The second path is choose Lisp/Haskell and find their absolutely fantastic literature. Learn the secrets of enlightenment and then go try to pickup a mainstream language only to find out they're basically absolute shit.

Congratulations you've achieved, "NEETCode"

Have fun trying to freelance with your secret weapon of a programming language while everyone else has steady jobs.

There is one more path that I think is the best. Find what you want to accomplish. Do you want to learn electronics? Audio engineering? Web tech? Theoretical micro-kernels?

You will naturally find what works best in that field and end up using it. This is the true nature of using programming as a tool rather than a means of it's own. To use programming as a means to it's own means you go and pickup a copy of EOPL and start rapidly stroking yourself to semantic grammars. (Which is pretty hot no lie).

But start with The Little Schemer. Everything after that is just turtles.

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>cant actually do anything
then you dont know programming, you know a language's syntax

Listen I'm just broken. I've put in so much work to learn how to program. I like math. I like logic. I cant figure out how in the fuck im supposed to actually make anything

i wish i could get a job involving computer architecture or operating systems. i enjoyed and was gooda t those classes

Start reading some O'reilly books. A chapter a day goes a long way.

>young
>inexperienced
>prefers to ask people for help
The open source community hates non-autistic people like you. Why would you want to participate there?

>easy mode
Go to a credible college and major in CS. Join an open source software club, they're everywhere and most decent sized cities have a meet up monthly. Make decent grades, overcome the autism most channers suffer from (learn to be outgoing enough not to vomit in your interviews), and you will have no problems getting a job thats related to your passion.
>hard mode
Teach yourself through books and documentation. Contribute to open source until you're a well known name. Build up serious charisma to the point where you're able to approach people who will probably reject your lack of credentials out of hand and hold a conversation with them. Use this combination of practice and personality to muscle your way into a career.

I did the latter and I don't recommend it. Your life will be Hellish in the first few years. You won't know who to talk to about your questions, you will have millions of morons online giving you bad advice and employers will scoff at you until you build an unimpeachable portfolio and that takes at-least as long as a degree if you're still working to feed yourself.

I'm currently enrolled in night school even though I have my dream job self-taught. I just don't want to worry any more that one day the lack of paper will hold me back. On the other hand my employer is now paying for my education so it wasn't a total loss.

Good luck.

gonna blow myself brb

who are you? what projects did you start contributing to first?

learn programming lmao
guess what it's actually pretty shitty experience unless you're autistic and like this type of thing
otherwise it's just results-oriented shit

hard mode worked for me but i started in high school so i had a head start where i didn't need to pay bills.

programming is genuinely too hard for me

Serious answer:

You can't really be a programmer nowadays without learning some IT. I work for a consultancy and my current project is to support, maintain, and develop a certain piece of software.

This piece of software has multiple components that communicate with one another. So to grok what's going on you need to understand basic networking. Learn about the OSI model and study to get your A+ and network+. These are basic entry level certs. You can go further in networking and do cybersecurity if you choose.

Next you'll want to learn how to maintain and manage the environment you work in. Linux+ for the beginning but then you'll want something serious like a Redhat cert. And I hate to burst your bubble but people do actually use Windows. So you'll want a Windows sysadmin cert.

If you're a sysadmin that can program you can be a build release engineer and automate stuff for developers. Sound like grunt work? It is but it pays well and its a good place to start.

You're only 20. If you buckle down you can get most of these certs in a year or less. They make you more marketable and you can get actual work experience.

That's all that employers really give a shit about: work experience. They need to know you're a reliable employee and not some autist that's never worked anywhere longer than 3 months.

I know you probably don't like what I'm saying. I used to be an idealist until life kicked some humility into me. Don't make the same mistakes I made.

Get your certs. Get a job and real world experience. Go to school part-time but teach yourself full-time.

Be social and meet people in the industry. You may end up meeting someone that will eventually get you your dream job.

Be persistent and don't give up. Expose yourself to different paradigms in programming. Don't focus on syntax. Focus on data structures and algorithms.

Look up ikigai. It a Japanese concept that means your reason for existing. What is your ikigai?

1/2

2/2

Next most important thing to remember is that you have no job security. Tomorrow is promised to no man. As programmers we automate other people's jobs or create hyper competition where there used to be very little competition. Uber and Lyft are perfect examples of technology creating hyper competition.

It can happen to programmers. We're already competing with firms in India and China. Soon someone will make a billion dollar app that will force programmers to work on a project by project basis. And because everyone and their dog wants to be a programmer it means wages will decrease.

Consider other paths. I'm looking into data science. I'm excited to use SQL, statistics, and even machine learning to predict future trends.

Either become multi-skilled or be drowned out by a bunch of guys with bachelor's degrees that can't program for shit.

And trust me, the industry has more idiots with degrees thinking they'll be the next Zuckerberg then you can imagine. These people take Java 1 saying that they want to be game programmers (lol) but then complain that the basics are too hard. These same cretins have no passion and they just end up being mediocre because of it.

If you're passionate about programming then you're miles ahead of the masses. You just have to use that momentum to your advantage.

And if all else fails, get a trade. you'd be surprised how well plumbers get paid. Hope this all helped

>tfw failed out of java
>3 years in still dont feel any confidence towards programming
why is it so hard? what is the thing im missing?

Hold it firmly with an open palm.

every time i ask for help i just get shitty meme answers

It was a serious answer. You must first see that you're wanting it too much without the effort of applying yourself to learning.

Spend your time writing code and you will learn. Ask questions on here or irc when you get stuck.

>Make something open source
>Pajeet clones it and sells it
>You get nothing
>B-but I...P-put a license!! You can't t..take it and just resell it!!! S-stop!!

Sorry my Sir, I can Not Speak the license language. Thank you For you're email!

You're competing with people (some smarter, some dumber, some harder working, others not) who have been programming since they were 12. You're trying to close a big gap.

I've been using computers since i was 6, and programming since 15, but i was taught basic programming concepts at 12. Uni programming was stupid easy for me, despite having much smarter friends pick up new things quicker my head start always put them behind, and working harder.

So what can I do then ? All I know are scraps of C and R . I liked operating systems course and a computer architecture one like I said . But I just couldn't get into java.

Why not find an open source project and contribute? Find an easy one like a website app for some charity, look in the issues for some bug and try to fix it.

I had the same feeling for a while when I was learning programming but hadnt worked on any real projects. The solution is to just start working on a project. You can even ask someone for "what can I do that's time consuming and tedious but that a beginner can be helpful with?"

>I know you probably don't like what I'm saying. I used to be an idealist until life kicked some humility into me. Don't make the same mistakes I made.

This sounds condescending as hell and while he's exaggerating a tiny bit, it's fucking true dude. While you learn this shit, get work experience, both in your field and at shitty burger joints, because the latter shows you can hold a job and work under pressure