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by mike_hearn12 hours ago |
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upvoteby sho_hn11 hours ago|
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Anecdotally, I think it's great advice.

I contributed to a browser engine around that age (KHTML, which later became WebKit and Blink), and while I don't work in browsers right now, much of that knowledge, mindset and of course the professional network have done much to shape my life. And a fairly successful career, for that matter.

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upvoteby mike_hearn9 hours ago|
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Contributing to an open source project is fine, but the original analogy was "it's like telling teenagers to build browsers".

If teenagers could make small contributions to LLMs via open source then sure, go for it. Optimizing llama.cpp or similar would be a good learning project that might later get you good work via social networks. Contributing to open source is how I got started too.

Unfortunately, training LLMs isn't something that fits well to open source open collaboration. Inferencing codebases are better.

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upvoteby sho_hn9 hours ago|
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Excellent point, and I agree. Much of the benefit I saw was from working within a like-minded, smart team, not going it alone. And also specifically working on software with a real user audience to learn what providing value to them actually constitutes.

In that sense it's more a "seek out the open source community and real projects when young" rather than "do web browsers", with a bit of "look for ambitious types of projects few get to work on".

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upvoteby graemep11 hours ago|
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Historically people lived very different lives, required different skills, were poorer, had different opportunities etc.

A lot of people will make better decisions with a few yeas more maturity, and spending a few years developing themselves.

University will help a lot of people, and for some it will help.

There is a lot more to life than making a living.

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upvoteby hnlmorg11 hours ago|
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Early web didn’t have JS. Nor PHP. In fact a lot of early web pages were written using static HTML with C++ invoked via CGI/bin for processing form data. So writing a browser would teach you the HTML plus C++ too.

The early Internet (which the GP mentioned) didn’t even have the web. But that’s nitpicking.

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upvoteby yoz-y10 hours ago|
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17 is a weird age but ymmv. I left home at 16 alone to study abroad. I had tons of free time due to dorm curfews and such. Unfortunately, I was too poor to have a computer and the computers we had access to were completely locked up. (Naturally we waltzed past the locks to play some games but it was also under surveillance)

Paradoxically I coded way more between ages 12-14, I regret my wasted late teens.

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upvoteby fcatalan10 hours ago|
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Me too:

ages 8-15: lots of great 8-bit computer fun.

ages 15-20: girls, booze, motorcycles.

20 onwards: get a PC, back to computers, realize how much I've been missing.

To be honest, judging by my own kids and their friends, late teens seem to generally be an era of hard to avoid stupidity.

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upvoteby tejohnso6 hours ago|
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If your focus on girls, booze, and motorcycles ends at 20 years old that's a pretty good sign.
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