But you know __why__ it isn't terrible - unlike people stuck in other professions, one can pick whatever interests them, work on it, and with minimal cost show case it to the whole world, and if that gets some attention, maybe they can land an interesting gig, or the random stuff they work on might even take life on its own. It doesn't happen frequently but last time I checked there were a few that did happen this way.

So if one limits oneself to just what the customer wants boss what the boss demands - programming is terrible, but programming unlike most other jobs allows one to follow one's own heart with costs tending to zero.