As an indie software maker, I agree. I've been thinking about this a lot too. I'm going to start by polishing my indieweb site first. A site needs to look decent to be trustworthy.
A fortuitous decade as an indie software developer
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Re: A fortuitous decade as an indie software developer
#32If you have the balls to create and release something, you’re a legend. Don’t be a corporate NPC trying to look like the smartest person in the meeting and optimizing some stupid KPI for your next promotion packet. Life’s far too short. Save me the cliche rebuttals too, I’ve already heard them.
> Corporate NPC
That's a really good description, I should update my linkedin profile :)
Re: A fortuitous decade as an indie software developer
#33As an indie software maker, I agree. I've been thinking about this a lot too. I'm going to start by polishing my indieweb site first. A site needs to look decent to be trustworthy.
In 2026 a site should not look made by Claude to feel trustworthy, IMHO
Re: A fortuitous decade as an indie software developer
#34If you have the balls to create and release something, you’re a legend. Don’t be a corporate NPC trying to look like the smartest person in the meeting and optimizing some stupid KPI for your next promotion packet. Life’s far too short. Save me the cliche rebuttals too, I’ve already heard them.
Yeah, but for most people, the paycheck from being a 'corporate NPC' is a profound and unbeatable argument. Rent is due every month and stores don't accept personal IOUs....
Aren’t you all paid really well in the US? (I assume you’re in the US, given the general audience of this website)
I would be really surprised if the majority of HN audience didn’t have decent savings, unless SF is really as expensive as people say online?
Re: A fortuitous decade as an indie software developer
#35Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah, but for most people, the paycheck from being a 'corporate NPC' is a profound and unbeatable argument. Rent is due every month and stores don't accept personal IOUs....
Aren’t you all paid really well in the US? (I assume you’re in the US, given the general audience of this website) I would be really surprised if the majority of HN audience didn’t have decent savings, unless SF is really as expensive as people say online?
Whatever savings you have, you still need to contend with the reality that the US has no real social safety net and it's expensive, esp since the last few years. You are always potentially one doctors visit away from bankruptcy without insurance, and the social safety programs like Medicare and social security only kick in after 65.
The truth is, an overwhelming majority of people in the US live a very precarious life financially speaking. No doubt the US as a whole is a very rich country, but to paraphrase William Gibson, the money is there, just not evenly distributed.
Re: A fortuitous decade as an indie software developer
#36As an indie software maker, I agree. I've been thinking about this a lot too. I'm going to start by polishing my indieweb site first. A site needs to look decent to be trustworthy.
In 2026 a site should not look made by Claude to feel trustworthy, IMHO
Does it look like Claude made it? It was actually made from a template I used 5 years ago. The world never stops surprising me.
Re: A fortuitous decade as an indie software developer
#37Earlier quoted context omitted.
In 2026 a site should not look made by Claude to feel trustworthy, IMHO
Does it look like Claude made it? It was actually made from a template I used 5 years ago. The world never stops surprising me.
It doesn’t, no, I reacted to your comment, not your website :)
Re: A fortuitous decade as an indie software developer
#38If you have the balls to create and release something, you’re a legend. Don’t be a corporate NPC trying to look like the smartest person in the meeting and optimizing some stupid KPI for your next promotion packet. Life’s far too short. Save me the cliche rebuttals too, I’ve already heard them.
But the corporations are where all the money is, and the system murders you if you don't have money.
It doesn't reward you if you don't produce anything that someone is willing to pay you for. Who has been murdered for not having money?
Re: A fortuitous decade as an indie software developer
#39Earlier quoted context omitted.
Does it look like Claude made it? It was actually made from a template I used 5 years ago. The world never stops surprising me.
It doesn’t, no, I reacted to your comment, not your website :)
Ah, I see. These days, there's a trend of calling everything AI slop, so I agree with you. That's why I've been hesitant to use Bootstrap templates lately. even though they used to be considered pretty reliable
Re: A fortuitous decade as an indie software developer
#40As an indie software maker, I agree. I've been thinking about this a lot too. I'm going to start by polishing my indieweb site first. A site needs to look decent to be trustworthy.
In 2026 a site should not look made by Claude to feel trustworthy, IMHO
I feel the same. I've always had this feeling about sites, but the recent year or so has really defined it for me: Sites that have the polished, glowing, glossy aesthetic are way less trustworthy to me than simple indieweb sites with some basic CSS. It's the same principle people have noted about seeing typos in text making it more human-like. Of course, Claude can make sites that have an indieweb vibe, but it takes deliberate prompting, while the default is the fancy 2020 SaaS startup aesthetic, which I see everywhere now. It's almost an inversion of felt effort.