Ask HN: Best foundation model for CLM fine-tuning?

Unlike doctors, lawyers, or skilled tradespeople, we glorify bootcamps that promise anyone can become a developer in weeks. We worship open source, working nights and weekends “to help the community,” while the market treats it as baseline.

The result? A flood of underqualified competitors, stagnant or declining wages, and a profession that has become disposable. We brag about how easy coding is, all while normalizing mediocrity and eroding the value of our own craft.

We didn’t just create software, as a matter of fact we cheapened ourselves. And now, the industry we built depends on our own overwork, generosity, and naivety.

Comments (10)

dakiol · 8m ago

What can I do? Linux, git, C, gcc, vim, and a long list of top quality software have been developed just as you described. I feel ashamed of charging $9.99 for my shitty app, so I won’t.

attogram · 2h ago

You make a lot of assumptions here. Like: I've never bragged about how easy coding is. I've never glorified bootcamps. I've never treated open source work as baseline.

The real undermine that is happening now is AI replacing Jr Developers and interns.

rayanboulares · 2h ago

Who fueled AI, though? If not those millions of lines of free, well-documented, commented code just sitting on GitHub, contributed for “fun” to show off work. Almost no other profession would do that, especially not in their free time.

Lawyers, doctors, plumbers would never give away years of their expertise for free. Developers did. The rest will be history.

attogram · 2h ago

I don't buy into the gloom-and-doom. AI will change stuff, sure. Just like ARPANET and Internet changed stuff. Just like telephones changed stuff. etc.

bigyabai · 2h ago

> Almost no other profession would do that, especially not in their free time.

Dude, StackOverflow exists. Reddit, Quora, Facebook, all exist. You don't need to make up base lies to justify your crackpot tirade against open source developers.

rayanboulares · 2h ago

We deal with other professions on a daily basis. A lawyer or a financial advisor drops a single tip or piece of advice, even casually, and someone could be writing them a check for hundreds or thousands. A painter sells a single brushstroke or sketch and it’s still cash. They guard every scrap of knowledge because it’s literally money in their pocket.

rayanboulares · 2h ago

That's part of my point here. Where's lawyers' StackOverflow? Where's financial advisors' Quora?

bigyabai · 2h ago

https://law.stackexchange.com/

https://quant.stackexchange.com/

ekusiadadus · 2h ago

I think it’s precisely because of the free sharing that we’ve been able to build such a huge market. The fact that so many engineers enjoy relatively higher salaries and strong demand compared to other professions is thanks to open-source contributions and knowledge sharing being offered for free.

johncoltrane · 1h ago

That's a very liberal use of "we".