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Hoo boy. It's an awesome idea, don't get me wrong - and it's work that should definitely be done. But I've worked professionally in this space and it is wildly

Hoo boy. It's an awesome idea, don't get me wrong - and it's work that should definitely be done. But I've worked professionally in this space and it is wildly complicated. I've never seen how things are done on the federal side, but US states have various modes of "electronic filing" for rules and codes - and there's a ton of complexity. It's the kind of thing that sounds insanely boring on the surface, but there's a lot of interesting problems to solve, lots of coordination between various parties, lots of "deep state"[0] politicking - and so it becomes a surprisingly cool area to learn about and work in, and really matters in a way that many software projects do not. Best of luck - it's a cool problem space. [0]: I use "deep state" here somewhat ironically, but also just in the literal definitional sense: "people who are not elected but who work for the government and are surprisingly important". 0% intent to use it in the often insulting manner of popular discourse.

SebRollen 21d ago
Thanks! Super interested in hearing more about some of the battle-scars you've acquired from working in the space if you're open to sharing? Very early in the journey here, so still have a ton to learn! So far, it seems like the federal space is relatively well-behaved compared to your experience with states. Most agencies standardized on the USLM schema[^1][^2] in 2013. Before that, it's a hodge-podge of XML and plain-text sources. Also, FWIW, my interactions with federal agencies so far have been insanely positive. When I reported the error I found in the US code at 9pm, a staffer from the OLRC verified the issue and got back to me by 7am the next day, more efficient than most private sector organization's I've interacted with! [^1]: https://github.com/usgpo/uslm https://github.com/usgpo/uslm. [^2]: Meta: The USLM itself was created by federal law https://uscodex.org/usc/2/181 https://uscodex.org/usc/2/181
- epiccoleman 21d ago
  I am not sure how much I'm allowed to say publicly between NDAs and contracts and all that fun stuff (I may already be over the line, tbh) - but feel free to drop me an email at the address in my profile and I can point you to a few things that might be of interest.
nonethewiser 20d ago
>"people who are not elected but who work for the government and are surprisingly important" That’s just the regular definition of deep state. The difference is simply that you arent using it as a pejorative.

SebRollen 21d ago

Thanks! Super interested in hearing more about some of the battle-scars you've acquired from working in the space if you're open to sharing? Very early in the journey here, so still have a ton to learn! So far, it seems like the federal space is relatively well-behaved compared to your experience with states. Most agencies standardized on the USLM schema[^1][^2] in 2013. Before that, it's a hodge-podge of XML and plain-text sources. Also, FWIW, my interactions with federal agencies so far have been insanely positive. When I reported the error I found in the US code at 9pm, a staffer from the OLRC verified the issue and got back to me by 7am the next day, more efficient than most private sector organization's I've interacted with! [^1]: https://github.com/usgpo/uslm https://github.com/usgpo/uslm. [^2]: Meta: The USLM itself was created by federal law https://uscodex.org/usc/2/181 https://uscodex.org/usc/2/181

epiccoleman 21d ago
I am not sure how much I'm allowed to say publicly between NDAs and contracts and all that fun stuff (I may already be over the line, tbh) - but feel free to drop me an email at the address in my profile and I can point you to a few things that might be of interest.

nonethewiser 20d ago

>"people who are not elected but who work for the government and are surprisingly important" That’s just the regular definition of deep state. The difference is simply that you arent using it as a pejorative.