AskHN Digest

1. Ask HN: for senior positions is it advisable to list side projects on your CV?

Top comment by Jenk

I always ask candidates if they have anything to show off. I am _always_ more interested in what people do as a side project than I am of what they have done professionally.

Hyperbole time but I think it conveys the message: People do side projects for better reaons than they do professionally. At worst it's because they want to quickly learn/achieve something for their next job. Compared to professional experience, where at best it's because they were paid to do it and any fun or whatever altruism is a byproduct.

There are lashings upon lashings of caveats and nuance of course. For a senior role I will still be looking for interpersonal skills not just technical achievement. Part of being a senior is managing yourself, selling your ideas/concerns, mentoring and managing peers, and to some extent managing your managers.

FWIW your side projects are great examples and I'd would be impressed.

2. Ask HN: As a solo founder, what are the reasons not to use Docker?

Top comment by davismwfl

If you don't have a reason to use it, and if it isn't solving an existing problem for you, then don't use it.

This idea you should use docker or other container solutions when there is no compelling and logical problem they are solving is just a time suck. As a solo founder your time is super critical to manage closely, optimizing things that are not high paybacks is a bad idea.

Docker can be great, just IMO and especially for a solo founder you need a compelling reason(s) to add any complexity and/or extra time to your system. Especially if your solution is a simple project that you deploy on a single VM (or maybe multiple for reliability) there is no reason to use docker.

I've been a solo founder more then once, guard your time carefully. With some exceptions, only build things that have an immediate payback, use only enough tools to get it done and don't add any complexity or dependencies that can cost you extra time to debug, understand or learn. As you add people you can do more and be a little more aggressive on things that don't have immediate need/payback.

3. Ask HN: Which vintage computers do you find interesting?

Top comment by xkeysc0re

The C64 is really sweet - one of my goals is to eventually develop a game for it (thinking a monorail/train sim like a simplified version of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Densha_de_Go!_2_K%C5%8Dsoku-he...)

Right now I'm interested in the Phillips MSX systems and PC Engine, as they both have a catalogue of unique platform-specific games (such as the original Metal Gear!) and are less-trodden territory for retrocomputing which, alas, makes them a little pricier. But part of the fun of retrocomputing is that it can be a passive hobby where you set some price alerts on ebay and craigslist and then try and go for the score.

If you haven't, be sure to check out https://old.reddit.com/r/retrobattlestations/

4. Ask HN: How are salaries for senior devs in Berlin at the moment?

Top comment by mcntsh

I've been working as a Sr SWE in Berlin for 3 years, and I network with a lot of others. 60-90k is probably the most accurate range. Developers making 100k+ are in the top 5% of the market in the city. If you're making 100k in Berlin you'd be making 3-400k in the Bay Area.

Taxes are high. You're probably getting slightly less than 4k a month after taxes/insurance. Your apartment/utilities will be around 1200.

5. Ask HN: Did anybody apply for UK Global Talent visa? How did it go?

Top comment by throwgt

> the requirements seem intimidating

Don't be discouraged from applying because of this! The UK parliament published a report stating that the UK gov failed advertising this visa with too stringent requirements [1]. In reality, you definitely don't have to be a Nobel prize laureate to get this visa, especially if you go through the 'Promising Talent' route.

If you apply, the only thing you lose is £450 and some time. Even if you fail with your application, you can always reapply later, again and again, so there are almost no downsides to trying.

> How did it go?

It went well. :) People compare this visa to O-1, but I think it's better because you are completely free to work on whatever you want and you have virtually the same rights as a permanent resident, with the exception of having no access to public funds (e.g., getting unemployment benefits - you are still entitled to accessing NHS though). Compared to the Tier 2 General visa, the terms are amazing and it's worth all the trouble.

What helped me most with my application were my open source work and conference talks. The hardest part was actually obtaining 2 recommendation letters (I believe nowadays you have to provide 3 of them). You need to find someone in a higher position, like CEO or CTO, who will write a letter for you. I was very lucky with this: I sent a random request to a CTO of a rather well-known open source company and to my surprise they were willing to help me. I'm still astonished by this and I can't overstate how amazing open source communities can be.

Other than that, Immigration Boards [2] helped a lot with technical details - there's a dedicated forum about Tier 1 visas, so I'd recommend reading everything about other people's cases.

Lastly, I do recommend applying on your own (without solicitors). The reason is simple: no solicitor will know about your achievements better than yourself! And the bulk of putting together an application is actually listing your achievements, so getting help in this would be a waste.

Happy to answer any other questions you might have, and good luck with your application.

[1] https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201719/cmselect/cmsc...

[2] https://www.immigrationboards.com/

6. Ask HN: Webdev with poor/deteriorating vision. What can I pivot into?

Top comment by e12e

As already suggested by another commenter, continuing with web development, but with a focus on UX and accessability strikes me as the "shortest shift". It will potentially also give you a constructive outlet for the stress of loosing your vision (helping make sure others in a similar situation have a better experience with the product/sites you work on).

I imagine working as a specialized a11y consultant is likely to be a safer and better compensated niche than as a "regular" designer/developer.

Your personal experience and necessary adjustments would probably also allow you to work in similar fields, like working on native apps that need to be accessible to people with poor vision (ie: all of them, but especially those related to work functions, like logistics, cashier/bank, archiving/document management and probably lots I'm forgetting - where there might be regulations that must be passed in order to be able to deliver on bids).

7. Ask HN: How do you deal with information addiction?

Top comment by zorrolovsky

The trick that worked for me is to be absolutely ruthless.

I don't allow myself to bookmark "read later" pages again. I have to options: either I read the page here and now, devoting my full focus and attention, or it's gone forever.

I suggest you read about the power of focus, and also work on the damage that the fear of missing out is causing you. Yes, there are millions of interesting topics and insights out there, but you can only read one at the time. So ask yourself: "if I had to learn about one topic today (or this week), what would that be?". There is no later, there is no tomorrow... it's either now or never!

8. Ask HN: How do you track comment threads in HN?

Top comment by codingdave

I don't. I say my piece, and let it lie. Sometimes it is taken well, other times it invokes healthy discussions, sometimes it is ignored, taken poorly, or I am corrected and downvoted. None of those reactions require me to keep constant tabs on it. I do check my history on occasion to see what gets positive vs. negative responses, and try to use that as critique to become a better member of the community.

9. Ask HN: Why haven't we heard of data centers being affected by ransomware?

Top comment by tempfs

Ransomware requires a few preconditions in order to do real damage.

Mostly those all boil down to:

1. Shit-to-no backup solution in place. 2. Poor segmentation from a network/identity/privilege perspective.

Datacenters usually have this kind of stuff down pretty well or they don't stay in business very long.

Additionally, traditional ransomware attacks start as client-side attacks[phishing/fake search engine results promising app updates/etc]. This kind of attack works way better against Mary Sue in accounting or Chuck in sales but the scenario of Datacenter admins checking their Gmail on admin workstations or servers is hopefully insanely rare or never.

10. Ask HN: Is Learning Rust a Must?

Top comment by twic

No.

Rust is a good language in many ways - generally well-designed, innovative, aimed at some under-served but important use-cases, very educational to learn, and surrounded by a lively community.

But only a tiny fraction of the world's work and innovation is being done in Rust. There is a huge amount of interesting stuff happening in other languages. There is also much more work available in other languages - even interesting, well-paid work.

Reasons to learn Rust right now:

1. You need to learn a low-level systems language, for use on a platform that Rust supports; i think Rust is a better bet for many uses than C++ already.

2. You have copious time to invest in learning, and ownership type systems are the most interesting or powerful thing you don't currently know.

3. There is some specific piece of software you want to get involved with, and it's written in Rust.