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> I'm now an independent software developer. I already had a side project that was doing pretty well Is it bringing enough money for you to pay half of your fa
by NotOscarWilde 12y ago
> I'm now an independent software developer. I already had a side project that was doing pretty well
Is it bringing enough money for you to pay half of your family's bills?
Forgive me for being so direct, but "independent software developer" is a very broad label, and it contains both the successful and the struggling programmers.
Not that being dependent on a family is a bad thing; the only downside is that it is not something that everyone can do.
- WhitneyLand 12y agoWhy did you move so far away from your research?
- jakobegger 12y agoMy research involved a lot of programming, and I enjoyed making pretty GUIs for the code I wrote. So I already knew how to make Mac Apps. I made database apps because I saw an opportunity. I had been thinking about doing something more related to my area of study (physics & computer graphics). However, all I came up with were some vague ideas for games, and games seemed too risky for me. I do miss some parts of my research (especially maths), but for the most part I'm happy with what I do now.
- jakobegger 12y agoWe did move in with my parents for a year after I quit grad school, which lowered our cost of living significantly. But we no longer rely on family now. I'll share numbers too: My revenue this year is around 50000€. (mostly sofware sales + some consulting) My take-home salary (after expenses, social security, taxes) will probably be around 30000€, which is significantly above the median income in Austria. It's also more than what I'd make as a junior software developer.