Why do programmers always use 'we' when really they mean 'me' or 'you'? [closed]

Something I've noticed a lot from reading articles on stack overflow is that programmers tend to use the term 'we' a heck of a lot. I'm a programmer myself and I must admit, of all the times I've given people a few programming lessons or a bit of programming help, I've never felt compelled to use the term 'we' when talking about something you can do in the language.

For example (picking from some stackoverflow suggestions): "When do we really need to use hibernate for our Java code?" and "Why do we use process when we do have threads? [closed]"

Really what these people mean is: "When do you really need to use hibernate for your Java code?" (in which case 'you' acts as an informal equivalent of 'one') and "Why is process used when threads can be used instead?"

Has anyone else noticed this? Is there a reason programmers tend to use 'we' when discussing programming when really they mean 'you' or 'me' or the question could be asked without the terms.

Does anyone know where this trend/habit started or why so many people do it? Frankly it's starting to bother me because it results in an awkward use of English that doesn't feel natural and isn't particularly easy to take in.

This is a rhetorical narrative voice which is used in nonfiction. It has the effect of creating a sense of level ground between the narrator and audience by creating an inclusive feeling. There is a separation between us and the subject matter, but we (narrator and audience) are both on the same side of it, approaching it together as equals.

It is not confined to academic presenting or writing. For instance, a cooking recipe might be written in various voices, including we:

Imperative: Then, place the ingredients into the skillet and simmer on low heat.

We: Then we place the ingredients into the skillet and simmer on low heat.

I: Then I placed the ingredients into the skillet and simmered them on low heat.

You: Then you place the ingredients into the skillet and simmer on low heat.

All the various voices create their own mood.

The first person plural we-voice is particularly suitable for presenting in front of an audience.

Programmers have sat through lots of lectures in school, so the we voice is drilled into their heads. How do we know this is true? We solve this equation ...

You, we and one are all different voices which mean the same thing: any person at all in an applicable situation, but with different moods.

You'll see that in every field, not just programming. It 'means' that the problem or practice or need or stupid behavior is endemic to the field, not just to isolated practitioners.

For instance, in my old field of literary scholarship, I might ask plaintively,

Why, just when the advent of personal computers made it possible to create handsome, intelligible footnotes and marginal notes, have we decided to adopt the loathsome social-sciences practice of inline citation, which disfigures the typographic beauty of my page and renders my skillfully crafted prose difficult to follow?

I didn't decide to adopt that practice; I trust that you as a fellow-scholar didn't decide to adopt that practice; but somehow or other we have adopted that practice, and I'd like to know Why? (And what the hell you and I and other right-minded people can do about it.)