17 ms·

Could we help Greece?

14 points by tkyjonathan 11y ago

Who would be interested in volunteering some of their time to help out with Greek government with whatever IT related work they need at this time of possible change?

arkad 11y ago
I believe that generous (in terms of giving their time) IT guys would be found, but I can't imagine how crowdsourced IT resources could possibly help Greek government?
smegel 11y ago
Given Greece probably has an army of unemployed IT professionals who would work for spare change this seems shortsighted to say the least.
rblatz 11y ago
Wouldn't we be undercutting the Greek IT workers? Basically making their skilled labor worth less? It's a common problem when we send food aid, and price local farmers out of the market.
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
greenyoda 11y ago
1. Wouldn't that be taking work away from Greek IT employees who desperately need a source of income right now? (And what makes you think that the Greeks aren't able to do their own IT work?) 2. Even if you were familiar with the software that the many agencies of the Greek government used, how could you possibly know enough about the problem domains (e.g., deducting Greek payroll taxes) to be of any use? And I'm pretty sure their systems are documented in Greek, not English. 3. If you were the Greek government (or any government or company for that matter), would you trust unknown foreigners to work remotely on your critical systems?
nether 11y ago
Oh lord. https://twitter.com/shit_hn_says https://twitter.com/shit_hn_says
- anon3_ 11y ago
  A compendium of glib HN statements. Gold. > There are a lot of talented coders on HackerNews who could built any app currently on the market in a weekend. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect right? That person clearly doesn't build much.
thothamon 11y ago
I'd rather buy some Greek products that I know will make it back to Greece and help their businesses. I think that would help them more, and help me too. But, I'm not really sure how to do that.
- titanomachy 11y ago
  Go to your local specialty foods store and look for things made in Greece, I guess. Olive oil and cheese would probably be a good place to start. I can't recommend the wine though, they tend to put pine resin in it for some reason.
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
jkot 11y ago
I heard they have some issues with ATMs, perhaps we could look at that.
mullen 11y ago
Greece's problems are not IT but political and cultural. They want things from the government but don't want to pay taxes. The Greek populace should have it figured out by now that when a politician promises no taxes and retirement age of 51, some one has to pay for it.
- engager 11y ago
  This comment, to say the least, contains gross generalizations and stereotypes. Talking about what "Greece's problems" are, that "they want things from the government but don't want to pay taxes" and the "Greek populace should have figured out by now"...
  - vixen99 11y ago
    No it does not. 1. "Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has told the EU Parliament that very early retirement schemes should be ended" 2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_evasion_and_corruption_in_Greece https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_evasion_and_corruption_in_... " Tax evasion has been described by Greek politicians as "a national sport"—with up to €30 billion per year going uncollected."
brownbat 11y ago
Probably would be more efficient to write code for projects you know are valuable, and donate some of your returns to Greece. They may need code, but may need raw materials more, so would probably appreciate something more fungible, let them prioritize. Or you could save up for a Greek holiday. The thing they really need is tourists (and people buying Greek goods): http://philhellenes.org/how-to-help-greece/ http://philhellenes.org/how-to-help-greece/ Some Greek charities below, no idea which are most reputable though: http://projecthopeforgreece.com/ http://projecthopeforgreece.com/ http://www.soschildrensvillages.org.uk/sponsor-a-child/europe/greece http://www.soschildrensvillages.org.uk/sponsor-a-child/europ... http://www.hellenic-hope.org/ http://www.hellenic-hope.org/ http://hellenicleaders.com/blog/help-greece-now-the-power-of-10-campaign/ http://hellenicleaders.com/blog/help-greece-now-the-power-of... http://www.praksis.gr/en/about-praksis http://www.praksis.gr/en/about-praksis http://mdmgreece.gr/en/our-mission/ http://mdmgreece.gr/en/our-mission/ http://desmos.org/who-we-are/?lang=en http://desmos.org/who-we-are/?lang=en https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/greek-crowdfund#/story https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/greek-crowdfund#/story
guest 11y ago
you could organize a direct relief effort or campaign schauble to play nicer

14 points by tkyjonathan 11y ago

Who would be interested in volunteering some of their time to help out with Greek government with whatever IT related work they need at this time of possible change?

arkad 11y ago

I believe that generous (in terms of giving their time) IT guys would be found, but I can't imagine how crowdsourced IT resources could possibly help Greek government?

smegel 11y ago

Given Greece probably has an army of unemployed IT professionals who would work for spare change this seems shortsighted to say the least.

rblatz 11y ago

Wouldn't we be undercutting the Greek IT workers? Basically making their skilled labor worth less? It's a common problem when we send food aid, and price local farmers out of the market.

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

greenyoda 11y ago

1. Wouldn't that be taking work away from Greek IT employees who desperately need a source of income right now? (And what makes you think that the Greeks aren't able to do their own IT work?) 2. Even if you were familiar with the software that the many agencies of the Greek government used, how could you possibly know enough about the problem domains (e.g., deducting Greek payroll taxes) to be of any use? And I'm pretty sure their systems are documented in Greek, not English. 3. If you were the Greek government (or any government or company for that matter), would you trust unknown foreigners to work remotely on your critical systems?

nether 11y ago

Oh lord. https://twitter.com/shit_hn_says https://twitter.com/shit_hn_says

anon3_ 11y ago
A compendium of glib HN statements. Gold. > There are a lot of talented coders on HackerNews who could built any app currently on the market in a weekend. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect right? That person clearly doesn't build much.

thothamon 11y ago

I'd rather buy some Greek products that I know will make it back to Greece and help their businesses. I think that would help them more, and help me too. But, I'm not really sure how to do that.

titanomachy 11y ago
Go to your local specialty foods store and look for things made in Greece, I guess. Olive oil and cheese would probably be a good place to start. I can't recommend the wine though, they tend to put pine resin in it for some reason.

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

jkot 11y ago

I heard they have some issues with ATMs, perhaps we could look at that.

mullen 11y ago

Greece's problems are not IT but political and cultural. They want things from the government but don't want to pay taxes. The Greek populace should have it figured out by now that when a politician promises no taxes and retirement age of 51, some one has to pay for it.

engager 11y ago
This comment, to say the least, contains gross generalizations and stereotypes. Talking about what "Greece's problems" are, that "they want things from the government but don't want to pay taxes" and the "Greek populace should have figured out by now"...
- vixen99 11y ago
  No it does not. 1. "Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has told the EU Parliament that very early retirement schemes should be ended" 2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_evasion_and_corruption_in_Greece https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_evasion_and_corruption_in_... " Tax evasion has been described by Greek politicians as "a national sport"—with up to €30 billion per year going uncollected."

brownbat 11y ago

Probably would be more efficient to write code for projects you know are valuable, and donate some of your returns to Greece. They may need code, but may need raw materials more, so would probably appreciate something more fungible, let them prioritize. Or you could save up for a Greek holiday. The thing they really need is tourists (and people buying Greek goods): http://philhellenes.org/how-to-help-greece/ http://philhellenes.org/how-to-help-greece/ Some Greek charities below, no idea which are most reputable though: http://projecthopeforgreece.com/ http://projecthopeforgreece.com/ http://www.soschildrensvillages.org.uk/sponsor-a-child/europe/greece http://www.soschildrensvillages.org.uk/sponsor-a-child/europ... http://www.hellenic-hope.org/ http://www.hellenic-hope.org/ http://hellenicleaders.com/blog/help-greece-now-the-power-of-10-campaign/ http://hellenicleaders.com/blog/help-greece-now-the-power-of... http://www.praksis.gr/en/about-praksis http://www.praksis.gr/en/about-praksis http://mdmgreece.gr/en/our-mission/ http://mdmgreece.gr/en/our-mission/ http://desmos.org/who-we-are/?lang=en http://desmos.org/who-we-are/?lang=en https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/greek-crowdfund#/story https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/greek-crowdfund#/story

guest 11y ago

you could organize a direct relief effort or campaign schauble to play nicer