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Actual is going open-source

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Re: Actual is going open-source

#271

Post by winrid »

rglullis wrote: post #116
PragmaticPulp wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Yes you can make that, but only if you are in a tiny (and normally very privileged) set If we're talking about people talented enough to actually build and ship their own apps independently, a $200K or more compensation package should be easy to come by remotely or in any medium size city. For the truly average developer, $200K is definitely not the norm according to any compensation data I've seen.

I've built and shipped my own apps independently. I have almost 20 years of professional experience in Web, some Machine Learning and Data Science. I also led teams distributed around the world. I also got into blockchain development in 2019 and now I am working on a slow-but-steadily-growing open source project [0] to make payments with crypto easier. I'm living in the hot "tech center of Europe" (Berlin) and I'm ye…

You have to specialize in something to make that much.

Re: Actual is going open-source

#272

Post by nine_k »

mellosouls wrote: post #48
codegeek wrote: post #25

"I completely underestimated how much work it takes to build a business. There's so much overhead. I'm always figuring out why a build failed, taxes, how to triage issues, responding to support, designing UIs, responding to Apple's complaints, and more. There's so much that goes on behind the scenes. There's no way a single person can possible do this alone, especially as a side project." This is the part that resona…

you can have a cushy tech job making 200K relatively easy Some of these claims seem to come from people living on a different planet to me. Yes you can make that, but only if you are in a tiny (and normally very privileged) set. The way it's breezily posted on this forum at times shows perhaps just a leeetle disconnect with the mainstream tech world

Ingnore the 200k number.

The point is that it's much easier and more lucrative to use your expertise as a well-paid employee than to run your own small business. Been on either side, can confirm.

Re: Actual is going open-source

#273

Post by nine_k »

potatochup wrote: post #257
cortesoft wrote: post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am curious… why do you want to start a business? It seems like so much work for less pay. Why is the option of working until you retire early a bad thing?

Not the OP but I'd love to do something that contributes to the local community in a more tangible way than my current $BIGTECH job. I'd love to start a dance studio, a cafe/bookstore, a makerspace. But it'd be a huge pay cut, assuming I could even make a successful business out of it.

Your paying higher taxes contributes likely more to the community than another store.

Your paying a local charity usually does much more to the community than even running a gym.

If you run a store or a cafe by just paying locals to work in it, using a part of your high wages, it's pretty helpful. But see the charity above; maybe it's better to support e.g. educators.

In general, your community is never better off if you suddenly become poorer.

Re: Actual is going open-source

#274

Post by balls187 »

rglullis wrote: post #202
balls187 wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fair enough. > Also the cost of doing something so small can add up when you can have a cushy tech job making 200K relatively easy. The point being relatively easy if you fit a specific criteria (don't need flexibility, want to work long hours, have a above average CV, can live near a major tech hub, have no problem working for FAANG etc).

My proposal was a direct response to PragmaticPulp, who said "a $200K or more compensation package should be easy to come by remotely or in any medium size city." And this is why I made the proposal, it was a challenge to this notion that it is easy . I stand by the idea that is not, and I am willing to pay to be proven wrong.

> it was a challenge to this notion that it is easy. I stand by the idea that is not

It may not have been clear, but we agree.

Re: Actual is going open-source

#275

Post by codebolt »

rglullis wrote: post #259
tick_tock_tick wrote: post #258

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You have more then 25 days of "real" vacation at all the major tech companies in the USA. Pretty much all the issues that people mention in the USA (healthcare, vacation, maternity leave, etc) are non issues for employees in our industry. The only true risk is becoming unemployable for some reason and losing your job. USA tech might fly higher but can crater way lower.

Is there any company in the US where parents can take (collectively) up to 14 months of leave while still receiving 2/3 of their salary? More importantly: do people actually take it ?

Or 49 weeks at 100%, like here in Norway.

Re: Actual is going open-source

#276

Post by codebolt »

daenz wrote: post #153
maccard wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most of Europe sees you with the same tax rates of roughly 40%, if not higher. Even after rent, tax, and health insurance, your leftover pay is more than a mid to senior engineer will _gross_ before tax and rent in most major European cities. The real outlier there is the care cost. if you didn't have that, you would have 7/month left over (and even after that, you have $36k/year) - that's more than a mid level engin…

Why are European engineers paid so low?

I live in a country with 5 million people. Any software targeting the local market automatically has much less potential for growth than in the US with its 330 mln, so the work of making it has comparably less economic value. I'd say that's at least part of the explanation.

Re: Actual is going open-source

#277

Post by pjerem »

rglullis wrote: post #234
daenz wrote: post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you think they should be forced to stay? Suppose it was easy for all of those high performers (who wanted to leave) to move to the USA. You would lose out on that extra tax revenue, and it would undermine the redistribution scheme.

You don't need to suppose. It already happened recently in France. When the Socialist government increased the marginal tax rate to 70% for millionaires, there was a huge capital flight and they lost revenue.

No there was not a huge capital flight. This have been aborted solely because of threats from the ultra richs in France.

Moreover, this law was actually pretty fair : it was applied on marginal annual revenue over 1M so it meant that you had to be actually a multi-millionaire to be concerned.

Re: Actual is going open-source

#278

Post by Semaphor »

poleguy wrote: post #16

I still use YNAB4 regularly. I have a paid copy from before they moved to an online model. I'm running it on ubuntu in wine. It still works fine. I had never heard of Actual till today. It looks like it would cover my use case. I'm not sure why I would have switched, though, as YNAB4 still works for me and has no recurring charge and is fully local.

Yeah, YNAB Classic is amazing. I remember Sync kinda sucking, but I simply disabled that, as I never used it from different places anyway.

Re: Actual is going open-source

#279

Post by kortilla »

cercatrova wrote: post #268
daenz wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My read on that is that it is total comp, so it includes bonuses/RSUs/options. If you're not negotiating for those things, what are you doing. Though $200k base salary is not a crazy salary for a staff/principle/high-level engineer. I don't think people realize how corrosive to mental health a $200k engineering job can be though. I was making very close to that as a base salary, and the amount of responsibilities I h…

Not sure why people say this. In the US, you can get a 200k USD job without any RSUs/bonuses/options, all in base salary, and these jobs won't be over 40 hours a week. I see it among my friends daily. And in FAANG, it's even higher, I've seen offers for people only with a few years of experience at 350k or more (RSU appreciation mainly, not base salary). It's more that people don't really believe the high salaries an…

Google L5 in the Bay Area doesn’t pay $200k base. Your friends are either lying to you or you are an exceptional group not representative of standard senior Bay Area FAANG base salaries.

Re: Actual is going open-source

#280

Post by cercatrova »

kortilla wrote: post #279
cercatrova wrote: post #268

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure why people say this. In the US, you can get a 200k USD job without any RSUs/bonuses/options, all in base salary, and these jobs won't be over 40 hours a week. I see it among my friends daily. And in FAANG, it's even higher, I've seen offers for people only with a few years of experience at 350k or more (RSU appreciation mainly, not base salary). It's more that people don't really believe the high salaries an…

Google L5 in the Bay Area doesn’t pay $200k base. Your friends are either lying to you or you are an exceptional group not representative of standard senior Bay Area FAANG base salaries.

I never said FAANG pays 200k base. Companies who only pay in cash will have their total compensation be 200k. FAANG meanwhile pays a lower base, such as 170k, and the rest is RSUs. While FAANG base is lower, their total compensation is higher than other companies.
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