Learning should not be done only as a direct path to getting paid.
Learn to create pattern matching and intuition to solve future problems.
When you are 17 it is a good time to understand how the world works so you can build on top of it in the future. If we assume most tech is going to have an LLM as part the stack, a solid basis in how LLMs work is likely to help you in future endeavors the same way a solid basis in how the web works helps you today.
Maybe a 17 year old should learn both. As a small anecdote when I was 17 I learned a lot about load balancers, failover, and building self-healing systems running small hosting company that had to be fault tolerant when I was attending high school. This wasn't at state of the art levels (e.g. I wasn't configuring gigabit routers or global CDNs -- but it was useful pattern matching for future problems)
I currently don't touch any of that tech, but I have working knowledge that still serves me today.
I am not the parent but I took it as them saying the premise was wrong to begin with, which I very much agree with. Learning should not be primarily directed by job availability.
Their homepage, https://lina.sh/, reminds me of the early days of the internet. Are webrings back in fashion? Or is this just a group of old school folks keeping the nostalgia alive?
14X at github's scale is unlikely an easy problem to solve.
Additionally, there is a strategic reason to be the repository for all code, free, or not which is likely at conflict with reliability goals.
(e.g. they could get rid of their free tier which would improve reliability at the cost of allowing a new competitor to be the repository for all new AI driven code)
The long term strategic benefit of being the home to all code (or most of it) is enormous. They are likely balancing that strategic goal with what is seen as short-term internally as reliability.
Learning should not be done only as a direct path to getting paid.
Learn to create pattern matching and intuition to solve future problems.
When you are 17 it is a good time to understand how the world works so you can build on top of it in the future. If we assume most tech is going to have an LLM as part the stack, a solid basis in how LLMs work is likely to help you in future endeavors the same way a solid basis in how the web works helps you today.
Maybe a 17 year old should learn both. As a small anecdote when I was 17 I learned a lot about load balancers, failover, and building self-healing systems running small hosting company that had to be fault tolerant when I was attending high school. This wasn't at state of the art levels (e.g. I wasn't configuring gigabit routers or global CDNs -- but it was useful pattern matching for future problems)
I currently don't touch any of that tech, but I have working knowledge that still serves me today.
Think long term.