Hacker News Reader

Comment by throwaway290 | Hacker News Reader

The best way to do open source work is to consult or be employed and release open source stuff as part of your work. Otherwise it turns into politics, competition for money and popularity contest rather than product of passion. If you are as proficient as this guy you will find employers that do not mind open source work

View on HN

... This guy wasn't able to find an employer like that, no?

Did he look though? Maybe he is not aware this is a possibility. Even if he cannot leave Russia there are likely russian companies that would pay him and be even happy if he contributes to OSS. I know Qiwi, Yandex publish and maintain packages

Yeah but if the statement is a guy like this could find something like this, then the answer is no. I think mostly because it's not entirely clear how to get such a job and how to do that job without handing over the reigns of your project to the company.

> Yeah but if the statement is a guy like this could find something like this, then the answer is no.

What? Why?

> I think mostly because it's not entirely clear how to get such a job

Same as any other job, by looking. Even I do something like that and I am not even close to corejs maintainer level

> reins

If you do this while working as independent contributor (popular in Russia) then it's not even a question, the company will not have any reins on whatever you do outside the contract. If you are employed then company may have the reins, but you will publish OSS while getting money and recognition for it, which is 80% of the formula.

If you read the article, you'll see he did look, extensively.

Not enough because how come I could do it but not him.

The part where he spent the year 2020 in a russian slave labour prison might help explain his difficulty getting a job. Plus as a russian national living in russia, FAANG is not exactly knocking at his door.

Why do you bring up FAANG? Is that the bar now, be unemployed and beg for money or work at FAANG?

I myself have left the country but I have some friends who are still there, they consult just fine and get paid. Including for foreign businesses.

I used FAANG as a shorthand for "big international tech companies that pay a lot". Glad to hear though that there are lots opportunites for tech folk in Russia to make good money.

> I used FAANG as a shorthand for "big international tech companies that pay a lot".

Uhh… Yes and that's my point? He could earn 50-100 USD per hour, which would get him a more than decent lifestyle in Russia. Why would someone pick between Lots Of Money and begging and not accept an alternative between that would allow him to keep doing OSS while feeding his family? This whole plea just doesn't compute with me.

> Glad to hear though that there are lots opportunites for tech folk in Russia to make good money.

It's not good money, it's just money to live okay. And it's not in Russia, it's everywhere. Internet, it did wonders.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com