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The disparity between the U.S. and Belgium is huge: I have a nice GitHub public profile. I am a capable and experienced Python and Haskell developer. I am buil

by thu 13y ago

The disparity between the U.S. and Belgium is huge: I have a nice GitHub public profile. I am a capable and experienced Python and Haskell developer. I am building Reesd (https://reesd.com https://reesd.com), a redundant storage service made of: - Several Docker containers, linked through Open vSwitch, - Web frontend, - SCP reimplementation with account permissions and bucket plan limits, and on-the-fly SHA1 check, - Redundant backend store, - Background jobs to check files SHA1 to detect early corruption, - Payment done through Stripe (almost done), - HAProxy, - Email through mandrill, - I'm working on adding PostgreSQL synchronous replication. I think I have largely proved myself to possible employers. Still it is excessively difficult to find a job without moving abroad: the belgian market for non-Java/.Net/C# developers is small. Search for a Python developer position, you'll find 1 or 2 public postings. And they will offer you a ridiculously small salary since the market is on their side. When I see the perks you are offered in the SV this is crazy. And then you have posts like these to move you forward. A chance HN is accessible abroad :) B.t.w. it's maybe the third time that I post Reesd as part of a comment on HN. I think it made sense to include the link in my comment; but still, is it ok to do so regularly even if the subject makes sense ? Edit: hey, thanks for the replies!

gumby 13y ago
> ...it's maybe the third time that I post Reesd as part of a comment on HN... still, is it ok to do so regularly even if the subject makes sense ? Totally. You're not spamming ("if the subject makes sense") and of course nobody sees all the comments. So if you're adding to the discussion and your link to your work helps, then go for it! For years I had the bad attitude "simply do the work and obviously everyone will know how good (or not) I am". That quasi worked in the lab where we all shared a filesystem but no, it's terrible personally, professionally and, in the case where I did do good work, for everyone else. I'm still unlearning that... Note: there are plenty of scammers and the simply inept who "network" by blindly inserting themselves into other conversations. Doesn't sound like you're at risk of that. Go for it.
joshdotsmith 13y ago
This is Hacker News. If you can't post a relevant link in a comment to something you built yourself, then I just don't know anymore.
- BlackDeath3 13y ago
  For what it's worth, I agree. If you have something cool to share, then by all means, do!
- sliverstorm 13y ago
  Hell, if anything, relevant plugs are refreshing just by being relevant, thanks to the constant background noise of totally irrelevant plugs.
noelwelsh 13y ago
I live in the UK. I work for US clients. You can too. (You can also work for UK clients, which will be even easier!)
- erichocean 13y ago
  This. I've personally hired software developers in Australia and The Netherlands. Where you live doesn't matter much IMO for most kinds of work. (Some stuff does need to be more collaborative, but most doesn't.)
- carlob 13y ago
  Similar story here. I work in Italy for a US employer. I'm technically a consultant, but I work a 40-hour week just like an employee.
markkanof 13y ago
I don't see why not. Your using your project to illustrate a point that is relevant to the original post and your comments (at least to me) sound like you are proud of the project you are working on, rather than some kind of in your face marketing which might not be as acceptable.
sylvinus 13y ago
What you've built looks very nice. Contact me if you're looking for a semi-remote Python gig in Paris :)
- thu 13y ago
  Done !
agumonkey 13y ago
Is this a team project or a party of one aka you ?
- thu 13y ago
  It is just me. That was supposed to be a weekend project. Sure it wasn't :)
  - agumonkey 13y ago
    Saying I'm humbled wouldn't be close. Wish you success you deserve it.
    - thu 13y ago
      Thanks a lot! Really sometimes it feels tiresome but it is all about putting the pieces together. I would really like to blog about those pieces; even if it is a lot of work, the pieces by themselves just look all warm and fuzzy and simple to get right. Again thanks for the encouraging words!
nandemo 13y ago
I guess you got this already from the post, but if anything the situation in Japan is worse. Programmer salaries are roughly comparable to (continental) Western European salaries (after discounting for living cost differences), so much lower than in SV/Seattle/NYC. But in Europe at least you tend to get more free time and longer vacations.
auvrw 13y ago
awesome! i still prefer fuse-ing my local file system to server over ssh rather than over google drive or dropbox's protocols (dunno if the latter is even possible), but the so-called "webscale," bomb-proof redundancy is lacking from any server that i (previously) had an account on. are you going to build out some front-end stuffs for the (majority of) people who don't already use ssh or just refer them to existing clients? while using a standard protocol for a standard task is (or ought to be <_<) a no-brainer from a programmer's perspective, most people want something clickable, and the last time i had to get something over ssh on windows, i wound up with this ghastly-looking program called WinSCP.
- thu 13y ago
  Indeed I got much comparison with Dropbox but I won't provide the kind of clients you talk about. I would like instead to target developers, building on tools they know such as scp but also, I hope/for instance, rsync or git. Thanks for your comment!
  - auvrw 13y ago
    sounds like a plan, although for anything that's fundamentally about incremental saves (like git), you're going to be competing with tarsnap. i still don't have a dropbox account. i use rsync for the compression if there's a large file or slow connection, but usually i just just an sshfs fstab entry and mc for all the functionality i'd want out of a dropbox frontend.
eru 13y ago
> Still it is excessively difficult to find a job without moving abroad: [...] Then move abroad! Don't stay in Europe, where salaries are low and taxes are high. I just moved to Asia a year ago, and only regret not having gotten out earlier.
eloisant 13y ago
There's the option of working remotely from Belgium. It may be easier with a European company (same timezone, can take the train once in a while to meet people) but you can also find a remote job with a US company. There are plenty of cool companies in Paris, London, Berlin, some in Amsterdam...

by thu 13y ago

gumby 13y ago

> ...it's maybe the third time that I post Reesd as part of a comment on HN... still, is it ok to do so regularly even if the subject makes sense ? Totally. You're not spamming ("if the subject makes sense") and of course nobody sees all the comments. So if you're adding to the discussion and your link to your work helps, then go for it! For years I had the bad attitude "simply do the work and obviously everyone will know how good (or not) I am". That quasi worked in the lab where we all shared a filesystem but no, it's terrible personally, professionally and, in the case where I did do good work, for everyone else. I'm still unlearning that... Note: there are plenty of scammers and the simply inept who "network" by blindly inserting themselves into other conversations. Doesn't sound like you're at risk of that. Go for it.

joshdotsmith 13y ago

This is Hacker News. If you can't post a relevant link in a comment to something you built yourself, then I just don't know anymore.

BlackDeath3 13y ago
For what it's worth, I agree. If you have something cool to share, then by all means, do!
sliverstorm 13y ago
Hell, if anything, relevant plugs are refreshing just by being relevant, thanks to the constant background noise of totally irrelevant plugs.

noelwelsh 13y ago

I live in the UK. I work for US clients. You can too. (You can also work for UK clients, which will be even easier!)

erichocean 13y ago
This. I've personally hired software developers in Australia and The Netherlands. Where you live doesn't matter much IMO for most kinds of work. (Some stuff does need to be more collaborative, but most doesn't.)
carlob 13y ago
Similar story here. I work in Italy for a US employer. I'm technically a consultant, but I work a 40-hour week just like an employee.

markkanof 13y ago

I don't see why not. Your using your project to illustrate a point that is relevant to the original post and your comments (at least to me) sound like you are proud of the project you are working on, rather than some kind of in your face marketing which might not be as acceptable.

sylvinus 13y ago

What you've built looks very nice. Contact me if you're looking for a semi-remote Python gig in Paris :)

thu 13y ago
Done !

agumonkey 13y ago

Is this a team project or a party of one aka you ?

thu 13y ago
It is just me. That was supposed to be a weekend project. Sure it wasn't :)
- agumonkey 13y ago
  Saying I'm humbled wouldn't be close. Wish you success you deserve it.
  - thu 13y ago
    Thanks a lot! Really sometimes it feels tiresome but it is all about putting the pieces together. I would really like to blog about those pieces; even if it is a lot of work, the pieces by themselves just look all warm and fuzzy and simple to get right. Again thanks for the encouraging words!

nandemo 13y ago

I guess you got this already from the post, but if anything the situation in Japan is worse. Programmer salaries are roughly comparable to (continental) Western European salaries (after discounting for living cost differences), so much lower than in SV/Seattle/NYC. But in Europe at least you tend to get more free time and longer vacations.

auvrw 13y ago

awesome! i still prefer fuse-ing my local file system to server over ssh rather than over google drive or dropbox's protocols (dunno if the latter is even possible), but the so-called "webscale," bomb-proof redundancy is lacking from any server that i (previously) had an account on. are you going to build out some front-end stuffs for the (majority of) people who don't already use ssh or just refer them to existing clients? while using a standard protocol for a standard task is (or ought to be <_<) a no-brainer from a programmer's perspective, most people want something clickable, and the last time i had to get something over ssh on windows, i wound up with this ghastly-looking program called WinSCP.

thu 13y ago
Indeed I got much comparison with Dropbox but I won't provide the kind of clients you talk about. I would like instead to target developers, building on tools they know such as scp but also, I hope/for instance, rsync or git. Thanks for your comment!
- auvrw 13y ago
  sounds like a plan, although for anything that's fundamentally about incremental saves (like git), you're going to be competing with tarsnap. i still don't have a dropbox account. i use rsync for the compression if there's a large file or slow connection, but usually i just just an sshfs fstab entry and mc for all the functionality i'd want out of a dropbox frontend.

eru 13y ago

> Still it is excessively difficult to find a job without moving abroad: [...] Then move abroad! Don't stay in Europe, where salaries are low and taxes are high. I just moved to Asia a year ago, and only regret not having gotten out earlier.

eloisant 13y ago

There's the option of working remotely from Belgium. It may be easier with a European company (same timezone, can take the train once in a while to meet people) but you can also find a remote job with a US company. There are plenty of cool companies in Paris, London, Berlin, some in Amsterdam...