#handcraftedcode — Public Fediverse posts

I've been working my way through the list at handcraftedcode.org/ (thanks @jaredwhite ) and following the people there because I really want to connect with others who are resisting the siren song of vibe coding. Thanks to the many who have followed me back.

I'm really interested in hearing what everyone's doing with handcrafted code. But I'm especially interested in hearing how people are navigating the current job market. I know some are probably resigning themselves to using AI at work but not on personal projects, and I'm certainly not going to judge anyone for that: the economy sucks, you do what you have to to survive, no ethical consumption under capitalism, etc.

But I'm sure there are a lot of people like me who are making the principled stand not to use LLMs even at work, and I'm wondering: how's that going? Have people managed to find jobs that haven't bought into the hype? If so, how did you find such a job? My attempts to find some sort of curated online list of companies that don't require AI use have not been successful; it mostly turns up listicles from three years ago, with names of companies that all mandate AI use in 2026.

I left my AI-mandating job back in June. I'm thinking of going freelance and looking for contract work from companies who either don't like AI, or don't care whether or not I use it as long as I do good work. I'm not really sure how big a market there is for that, and I'd love to hear people's experience.

I'd really love to start some sort of mutual support network for working AI-free developers, like a way to share information about available no-AI jobs with prospective no-AI employees. But that's pretty much what FediHired is, and while I love that, I haven't had much success with it.

My other, more daring, plan is to form an employee-owned tech cooperative composed of developers who don't use LLMs and don't take contracts with clients who want us to use or implement them. I wonder if there's enough interest out here to support something like this?

#handcraftedcode #noai #nollms #coops #cooperatives

I've been working my way through the list at handcraftedcode.org/ (thanks @jaredwhite ) and following the people there because I really want to connect with others who are resisting the siren song of vibe coding. Thanks to the many who have followed me back.

I'm really interested in hearing what everyone's doing with handcrafted code. But I'm especially interested in hearing how people are navigating the current job market. I know some are probably resigning themselves to using AI at work but not on personal projects, and I'm certainly not going to judge anyone for that: the economy sucks, you do what you have to to survive, no ethical consumption under capitalism, etc.

But I'm sure there are a lot of people like me who are making the principled stand not to use LLMs even at work, and I'm wondering: how's that going? Have people managed to find jobs that haven't bought into the hype? If so, how did you find such a job? My attempts to find some sort of curated online list of companies that don't require AI use have not been successful; it mostly turns up listicles from three years ago, with names of companies that all mandate AI use in 2026.

I left my AI-mandating job back in June. I'm thinking of going freelance and looking for contract work from companies who either don't like AI, or don't care whether or not I use it as long as I do good work. I'm not really sure how big a market there is for that, and I'd love to hear people's experience.

I'd really love to start some sort of mutual support network for working AI-free developers, like a way to share information about available no-AI jobs with prospective no-AI employees. But that's pretty much what FediHired is, and while I love that, I haven't had much success with it.

My other, more daring, plan is to form an employee-owned tech cooperative composed of developers who don't use LLMs and don't take contracts with clients who want us to use or implement them. I wonder if there's enough interest out here to support something like this?

#handcraftedcode #noai #nollms #coops #cooperatives