/r/programming has become more like a generic technology link dump. The few programming-related links it does get tend to be either about functional-programming-language-of-the-month or a pointless JavaScript demo.
Maybe it's the sort you're using. Reddit link discussions can go on for weeks and months. You can hop in with a top of the week sort and read a good discussion, and still find active threads.
A lot of the complaints I see about reddit feel like the complaints people have jumping into Linux from Windows.
Linux isn't Windows, and reddit isn't Hacker News. Learn how to operate it, and you'll find out why people like it.
My biggest problem with this is that if a post that doesn't belong gets upvoted it'll reach the front page, and once it reaches the front page all of the worst parts of Reddit flood into the comment threads.
/r/coding has stricter moderation, but much much less content is posted there. People generally want to post their links where they'll garner the most karma, and cross-posting feels kinda dirty.
