Why I Unpublished My Qeltrix Journey Article

Source: Dev.to

The Reality of Being Honest in Tech Communities

I recently unpublished my article “My Journey Creating Qeltrix: A 17‑Year‑Old’s Approach to Cryptographic Innovation” from DEV.to. Not because I regret what I built or how I built it, but because I’ve realized something important: honesty in tech communities often invites backlash rather than understanding.

What I Did in That Article

In that article I was completely honest about my entire journey. I shared everything transparently—my learning process, my struggles, my limitations, and my dreams. The article was long and detailed because I wanted to be completely honest about everything, so other young learners could see they’re not alone in their struggles.

The Fear That Made Me Unpublish

After publishing, I researched how communities react to such honest admissions. What I found was troubling:

Even established, experienced developers get backlash for being honest about:

• Using AI assistance
• Admitting knowledge gaps
• Sharing unconventional learning paths
• Being transparent about limitations

If experienced professionals face criticism for honesty, what chance does a 17‑year‑old self‑taught learner have?

My Regret About That Post

Knowing that there is backlash for honesty, I’m regretting publishing the post. I don’t know how people will take it. People don’t always understand others’ feelings, and perspectives differ. What feels honest and vulnerable to me might seem something else to someone else. That doesn’t make the fear any less real.

The Pattern I Noticed

The tech community often says it values:

• Transparency
• Learning in public
• Sharing journeys, not just successes
• Helping beginners

But in reality, honesty often gets punished:

• Share your dreams and goals → “You’re being unrealistic”
• Be transparent about current skill level → “Then why are you publishing?”
• Admit using AI as a tool → “You didn’t actually build it”
• Show your learning process → “This is unprofessional”

Why This Hurts Learning

This culture of expecting perfection creates a problem:

Young learners like me must choose between:

1. Being honest about our dreams, current skills, and learning process—and facing criticism.
2. Hiding everything and pretending to be something we’re not.

Neither option is good for learning or the community.

When I shared my big dreams—wanting to master certain languages, the type of coding skills I want to develop, why I used AI as an accelerator (not a permanent dependency) for things I couldn’t achieve with my current coding skills, how I actually know coding and use it, and how I use AI as a learning tool to understand concepts and get resources—I was trying to paint a complete, honest picture. I made it clear: I’m not depending on AI forever, and I don’t depend on it now either. I used it as an accelerator for development. I know coding. I also shared how I use AI to learn coding, understand concepts, and get learning resources tailored to how I want to learn.

What I Built

Despite the fears that made me unpublish, what I built is real and working. The project exists, the code works, and it’s fully open‑source. I was honest about my entire process—and that’s what made me vulnerable to potential backlash.

The Bigger Picture

I’m not blaming anyone specifically. This is a systemic issue in tech culture:

• We celebrate the finished product but criticize the honest process.
• We want people to “learn in public” but punish them when they share their dreams, admit their current skill level while showing they have coding skills, or reveal they used AI as a tool to accelerate learning and development—not as a crutch, but as a resource.

My Decision

I’ve unpublished the article not because I’m ashamed of my work or my journey, but because:

• I can’t handle backlash right now – I’m 17, preparing for JEE, under pressure from home, and already uncertain about my future.
• I need to focus on JEE – Defending my honest sharing online would distract from what I need to do.
• The community might not be ready – For understanding that sharing dreams, current realities, and using AI as an accelerator and learning tool is valid.

What I Hope Changes

I hope one day we can have communities where:

• Young learners can share their dreams and current skills honestly without fear.
• Using AI as an accelerator and learning tool is understood, not dismissed.
• Transparency about the learning process is rewarded, not punished.
• People understand that knowing how to code and using AI as a tool aren’t mutually exclusive.
• Sharing how you use AI to learn concepts and get resources is seen as smart, not lazy.
• Learning in public means showing the real journey—dreams, skills, and tools used.

For Other Young Learners

If you’re like me—curious, passionate, with dreams and growing skills—your learning journey is valid, even if:

• You use AI as an accelerator for development.
• You use AI as a learning tool to understand concepts and get resources.
• You’re honest about your current skills while showing you do know coding.
• You share your big dreams about which languages you want to master.
• You’re learning in an unconventional way.
• You’re balancing passion with practical requirements.

Don’t let fear of backlash stop you from learning and building. Protect yourself—not everyone will understand that using AI as a tool while having coding skills is a valid approach, and that’s okay.

The Reality of Self‑Taught Learning

Since I’m a self‑taught learner, I know it’s hard. Really hard. In the beginning, sometimes I didn’t even understand a single letter of what I was reading. But we work hard—repeatedly reading, looking for simpler explanations, then going back to the advanced explanations, and trying more methods.

This is where AI becomes incredibly valuable. When you chat with AI, you can ask for both simple and advanced explanations. You can say “explain this simply first” and then “now give me the technical details.” You can ask it to explain the same concept in different ways until it clicks.

AI as Teacher and Validator

AI can act as a teacher and validator in learning coding. When you write code, you can send it to AI and it validates it, explains what’s wrong, suggests improvements, and teaches you why something works or doesn’t work. There’s so much more that can happen in this learning process.

Why AI Can Be Better Than Traditional Teachers (In Some Cases)

For self‑taught learners like me, AI can actually be a better teacher than traditional teachers in some cases:

• Always Available: AI is there 24/7. No office hours, no waiting for the next class, no “come back tomorrow.” When you’re stuck at 2 AM trying to understand a concept, AI is there.
• Acts as a Friend: Self‑taught learners often feel lonely. We don’t have classmates to discuss with, no study groups, no one to share the struggle with. AI fills that gap—it becomes a companion in the learning journey.
• Makes Things Understandable: AI explains things in the way that helps you understand. You can ask it to explain differently, use analogies, give examples—until it makes sense to you.
• We Can Catch AI’s Mistakes: Even when AI makes mistakes in explaining, we can catch them because we’re experienced in AI chatting. We’ve learned to verify, cross‑check, and validate what AI tells us.

We don’t rely on AI only—we also use Google searches, posts and articles by other developers, YouTube classes, and other free learning resources, cross‑referencing everything to build a solid understanding.