More money?

Or even the same amount of money when the pay/bullshit ratio starts going in the wrong direction.

You realize all of the BigTech companies use the same “boring languages” don’t you?

Taking a dull job so that it's easier to change to a better paying dull job doesn't seem like a great tradeoff to me. Bullshit definitely happens but again, dealing with a crappy language's bullshit from day 1 so that it's easier for me to switch to another job that will definitely have at least that floor level of bullshit doesn't feel like a great option.

The biggest companies largely use dull languages, sure, although you sometimes find pockets within them that are doing something at least a little nicer (e.g. OCaml at Facebook). So much the worse for the big companies.

You saw my original spiel about going to work to exchange labor for money? I don’t go to work to find excitement. I go to work to provide food and shelter.

My excitement during the first decade of my career came from my working hobby as a fitness instructor and running with friends. In less than a month my “excitement” is going to come from my wife and I living out of two suitcases flying across the country staying in mid tier hotels for a few years.

I could spend my free time learning a new programming language. But I am finding it much more “exciting” learning Spanish so when we stay in Mexico for a few weeks, I can at least be able to communicate somewhat.

If you want a job you can easily switch for an equivalent job, which seemed to be your pitch for using a boring language, then that job is at best going to be a 9-5, which will take up something like half your waking life (at least for the decades when you're the most healthy). I'm a big believer in life and hobbies outside of work (and when I want to learn a new programming language, I look for a way to do it on the clock), but an engaging, interesting job that pays less is often a very worthwhile tradeoff.

I just left a job two years ago that literally paid $100K less than I make now. I am a lot more engaged now…

Not bragging, it’s about what a mid level developer makes at most of the large tech companies.

I definitely couldn’t have afforded my current adventure at my old job nor could I have afforded to retire my wife.

I went the other direction. Took a job that paid half as much as my previous one, but it's interesting work, and I'm a lot happier. Grass is always greener I guess.

> You realize all of the BigTech companies use the same “boring languages” don’t you?

What kind of argument is that? Of course they do, you can’t get away from using JS for front, for example.

But they also use Ocaml, Haskell, Scala.