Cottage Computer Programming

I've had the pleasure of meeting Paul a couple of times -- he gave a presentation to our local Linux User group and attended a few meetings. He's a very interesting guy, here is his main page: <a href="http://www.arachnoid.com/index.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.arachnoid.com/index.html</a> check out his yearly boat trips to Alaska, and his Java based HTML editor.<p>Also note that the article is very old :)

You don't need to live out in the middle of nowhere by yourself to live a cheap lifestyle which affords lots of free time (to code, garden, design, etc). If you replace log cabin with Natural Building [1] and expensive air conditioning and heating with smart design [2], you can build a cheap, sustainable home for very cheap. A group of us is working on building a development of this style only a short bike ride away from Bloomington, IN - close enough to easily/cheaply get into town and alleviate boredom - all to the tune of less than $100/mo over 15-30 yrs or $10-20k down. btown cooperative living at gmail if you are interested.<p>&#60;/plug&#62;<p>[1] <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_building" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_building</a><p>[2] <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive_cooling" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive_cooling</a>

<i>There's a lot of talk these days about how the individual cottage programmer is on the way out. I don't think so, even though a team of cooperating programmers is in principle a better arrangement. My doubt springs from the fact that the best of existing programs are the product of one, at most two individuals...</i><p>Does this mean that there's hope for those of us that hate programming with other people, despite pg's insistence that we need to have a cofounder?

It'd be pretty interesting to do this today. Internet access would negate a lot of the benefits of hermitage, in some respects. But it's a super romantic ideal - and one I [and it seems others] can definitely relate to. A big part of this story is that Lutus didn't go out to the wilderness <i>to</i> work on software, but rather, fell into it through curiosity and excitement over some novel new form of technology.

More:<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Lutus" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Lutus</a>

Nearly a decade ago, Arachnophilia 4.0 eased me into web design, which was my first stepping stone to web programming (good move on my part: I'm rubbish at design).<p>His CareWare philosophy introduced me to free software in a way that really resonated with me; and his well-argued antipathy toward Microsoft got me re-thinking what it means to use - and depend on - closed, proprietary technologies.<p>Finally, though I'm at best a mediocre, self-taught programmer, his sheer creativity and productiveness over the years has inspired me to create and produce in my own turn.<p>I have never met or even corresponded with him, but I owe him a large debt of gratitude for helping to shape the programmer I have become.

With the proliferation of wireless internet solutions(at least in Canada), working from some remote location never being easier than now. The land up north is cheap , wind turbine is less than 1000$ so enough to power light and computers.I keep coming to that idea over and over again :) The only thing that stops me are mosquitoes ....

I'm struck by his mention of a middle ground, the idea of relative calm in a small town. This is a lot of what I'm trying to say with <a href="http://richmondhackers.drupalcafe.com" rel="nofollow">http://richmondhackers.drupalcafe.com</a> (cf. my HNN post a week or two ago).

This isn't the first time I've read the argument for a computer being superior to a woman because of its exactitude and unforgiving nature, yet total acceptance of the correct. It is, however, one of the more eloquent (and concise!) versions of the argument.

This is so much what I want to do, but I don't yet have the... gumption... to actually do it.<p>I also code alone, and probably my income from investments from my lifestyle software product business (about $US 460 pcm) is enough to support it. According to Wolfram, $40 pcm in 1976 is $150 pcm today, <a href="http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=40+in+1976+USD" rel="nofollow">http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=40+in+1976+USD</a><p>I don't really know how to start (or how to be sure if I'd <i>really</i> like the solitude that much after a few weeks/months...)

Cool! Wonder where he is in Oregon? I sometimes have dreams about moving somewhere remote, but to tell the truth I think I'd get bored pretty quickly.

Reminds me of an old Russian saying: It will still take 9 woman 9 months to give birth to one child.

<i>What they should have said was, "Press down the key marked CTRL. While holding it down, press the B key. Now release these keys and press the key marked RETURN."</i><p>I understand the "where's the 'any key'?" argument, but we shouldn't all be designing for recluse luddites.