Using a free software stack, you could be an effective developer with a relatively low budget. A cheap or used laptop and an internet subscription.
LLM coding is changing that too. You either need a very powerful and expensive machine to run a local model, or (currently more likely) an LLM subscription. We are lead to believe you have to pay a monthly fee to be an effective developer.
The prospect of your output as a developer being tied to a proprietary service seems risky at best.
Jani Nikula
npub1hy…w37fe
2026-03-07 10:46:43 CET
Author Public Key
npub1hyx05tsd3sap5u5vdv78xdjhpwl9hua52hp679pe52f2m5ezwyuscw37feSeen on
wss://relay.momostr.pinkPublished at
2026-03-07 10:46:43 CETEvent JSON
{
"id": "dd910e0430ff7f6f0cb212b383f0b0e72b6c5cd05a98ee9309234e2b1b541f08",
"pubkey": "b90cfa2e0d8c3a1a728c6b3c7336570bbe5bf3b455c3af1439a292add3227139",
"created_at": 1772876803,
"kind": 1,
"tags": [
[
"proxy",
"https://floss.social/@jani/116187254218422311",
"web"
],
[
"proxy",
"https://floss.social/users/jani/statuses/116187254218422311",
"activitypub"
],
[
"L",
"pink.momostr"
],
[
"l",
"pink.momostr.activitypub:https://floss.social/users/jani/statuses/116187254218422311",
"pink.momostr"
],
[
"-"
]
],
"content": "Using a free software stack, you could be an effective developer with a relatively low budget. A cheap or used laptop and an internet subscription.\n\nLLM coding is changing that too. You either need a very powerful and expensive machine to run a local model, or (currently more likely) an LLM subscription. We are lead to believe you have to pay a monthly fee to be an effective developer.\n\nThe prospect of your output as a developer being tied to a proprietary service seems risky at best.",
"sig": "23c8cf42351468a2de8a9fd32e0e05ca7761fa042cae223cb80587e0d5c4b2361e962fe3645acdc10e8f7f37a504022bb04866d06c874f82f3e7994a0f373298"
}