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The trimodal nature of software salaries in the Netherlands and Europe (2021)

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Re: The trimodal nature of software salaries in the Netherlands and Europe (2021)

#221

Post by djvdq »

BossingAround wrote: post #76
seibelj wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would rather a private company build it, or in a public / private partnership, so we at least have some semblance of breaking-even if not a small profit. Our current train systems are so woefully wasteful, inefficient, prone to breaking down, and so on that simply giving the same corruption more money would be extremely unwise.

I see no real reason why public transport must be necessarily profitable. It's a common good that tax payers enjoy. You'll have profitable legs, but you'll also have legs that are used by a few folks from a village who need to get to the city once a week, and those will never be profitable. A private company would probably not build there.

Exactly, public transit doesn't need to be profitable. IIRC there are studies showing that unprofitable public transport is positive for economy and profitable if you'd look at it as whole economy in general.

Re: The trimodal nature of software salaries in the Netherlands and Europe (2021)

#222

Post by ido »

bcrosby95 wrote: post #205
sonofaragorn wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And frigid winters. Why am I here again?

The climate will be perfect in another 50 years.

The climate in BC is already perfect IMO and has milder winters than central Europe.

Re: The trimodal nature of software salaries in the Netherlands and Europe (2021)

#223

Post by stkdump »

kortilla wrote: post #218
stkdump wrote: post #213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So what if you are sick? You are using your normal vacation days?

I don’t get sick that frequently? I’ve had a cold like once in the last decade.

I envy you.

Re: The trimodal nature of software salaries in the Netherlands and Europe (2021)

#224

Post by visarga »

splittingTimes wrote: post #158

Humanities supposedly most brilliant minds work on the next e-billing system, AI on how to sell more crap that nobody really needs, keep a glorified message board afloat or enable the cancer that is advertisment. They should work on how to address the climate catastrophe, the waste/recycling problem, food security, sustainable agriculture and land/water use, medical devices/health care or how to fix the broken partic…

You want programmers to fix climate, recycling, food security and political participation with their crazy coding and math skills? That's hubris, not everything can be solved like a math problem or algorithm, especially not convincing people to take a short term sacrifice for their own long term good.

Re: The trimodal nature of software salaries in the Netherlands and Europe (2021)

#225

Post by ido »

breadloaf wrote: post #161
bilekas wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This might get a bad rep but I've had this experience too. It's not a blanket statement though. Outsourcing is fine but you definitely have need to do your homework. That's why you see a few of the outsourcing companies being bought over by their employers, because they're good. Out of curiosity and related to another HN topic, have you ever hired freelancers directly?

I tried to on the Upwork. But it is really hit or miss there. 1. I got hardware electric engineer to help me with a design of PCB. Guy was worth every cent. 2. Got embedded developer on separate project. Guy pretended that he can do a lot. I tried to explain to him, that I need a USB CDC device driver in MCU which has USB PHY and I want Windows to recognize and use usbser.sys (generic COM driver) or something similar…

You have to know people personally or have contacts to people who do to reliably get the good ones, I would never rely on outsourcing websites like Upwork for exactly the reason you stated.

Re: The trimodal nature of software salaries in the Netherlands and Europe (2021)

#226

Post by ceeplusplus »

discordance wrote: post #197
ceeplusplus wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because without the need to be profitable, you get gross incompetence, corruption, and waste. See: California HSR, BART expansion, NYC subway expansion. The power of the market forces private businesses to offer quality service. A privately run subway would never allow drug addicts and thieves run rampant on the train like they're allowed to in NYC and the Bay. Pro tip: if I feel scared for my life or property at any…

Per mile, cars are by far the most life threatening form of transportation.

But those deaths are 1) rational and 2) avoidable by defensive driving. By rational, I mean they make sense - drunk driving, unsafe driving, and speeding [1]. By contrast, you never know if someone on the subway is a mentally deranged person (frequently experience this on BART), a robber out to take your shit, or just someone who's being aggressive because they're trashy (also frequently experience this).

Per mile, cars make me feel the safest. And that's what matters for what I (and others) end up selecting for my form of transportation. Obviously, I'm probably never going to die on the subway due to a train crash. But I could be seriously hurt or my property taken from me - and it wouldn't show up in the stats as caused by the subway because it's just another crime that happened to occur there.

Have you really never been unsettled and felt unsafe due to mentally deranged people at night on BART/NYC subway?

[1] https://www.idrivesafely.com/defensive-driving/trending/most...

Re: The trimodal nature of software salaries in the Netherlands and Europe (2021)

#227

Post by nerdponx »

samatman wrote: post #199
nerdponx wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The biggest US government expenses are the military and overcomplicated inefficient social programs (Medicare, food stamps, Social Security). Moreover, the logical extreme of this argument is to just not have a government at all. I don't need bridges because I don't drive. I don't need the fire department because I am careful. Etc. It doesn't make sense, and the truth is that some things either best administered cent…

The logical extreme of your argument is communism. I'm not even slightly accusing you of advocating communism, but rather, pointing out that the logical extreme is irrelevant.

Not at all. My argument is that some things are better when centrally administered to some degree, and that "I don't use it therefore I shouldn't have to pay for it" is itself an extreme and somewhat antisocial position to hold in general.

Re: The trimodal nature of software salaries in the Netherlands and Europe (2021)

#228

Post by moonchrome »

varispeed wrote: post #124
moonchrome wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Austria != Vienna, similar to how London != UK. Equating for standard of living (eg upper middle class) you'll likely be 3x in Vienna. Although I'm just guestinating on Gdansk, maybe it's a really expensive place.

You can compare cost of living to an extent - assuming, for instance, that the worker won't go on holiday anywhere nice. Checked at one of known tour operators, for the same hotel and destination in the Caribbean, same duration and dates you will pay ~£2900 when going out from London and £4900 when going out from Cracow. Things like tech products will also cost broadly the same. Also engineers these days don't live l…

>You can compare cost of living to an extent - assuming, for instance, that the worker won't go on holiday anywhere nice.

But that's my point - as you get more experienced your net salary levels by remoting and you have lower cost of living - you actually have larger discretionary budget for vacations.

>Also engineers these days don't live like upper middle class (unless they come from such background). It's more like upper working class. Progressive taxation prevents workers from amassing capital and climbing the class ladder.

>People from upper middle classes get paid in ways out of scope of progressive taxes designed to keep working class in check.

True as well, which is why moving to Western Europe never made sense to me - as a freelancer I get to claim most of my income as company profits - taxed ~20% locally - vs. ~50% if it was income tax. And I can afford private health care/kindergarten/schools so the shit public care isn't an issue either.

Re: The trimodal nature of software salaries in the Netherlands and Europe (2021)

#229

Post by raverbashing »

Dove wrote: post #130
FredPret wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

By this logic, the best deal for a good developer will almost always be to start a company

I suppose that is true, if you reason narrowly. There is another force in play: the degree to which support makes the individual more powerful. I am much closer to my full potential as a problem solver when surrounded by effective management/facilities/IT/legal/differently-specialized-peers/enough-people-to-work-on-truly-large-systems than when I go it alone. Having spent significant time both as a freelancer and in…

Exactly this

Small teams with a big support behind are optimal (I think)

Two guys in a garage sounds exciting but in reality it's kinda inefficient (less so with all the SaaS stuff today, but still)

Re: The trimodal nature of software salaries in the Netherlands and Europe (2021)

#230

Post by seabrookmx »

ido wrote: post #222
bcrosby95 wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The climate will be perfect in another 50 years.

The climate in BC is already perfect IMO and has milder winters than central Europe.

*Southern BC and Vancouver Island

It's a big province. Winter sure isn't warm north of Prince George.

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