Hey guys,
So at the moment I'm prepping the code to open source it. Basically I'm migrating the codebase from GraphQL (what a mistake) to plain REST API, and cleaning up the code a bit. I built this last year on a tech stack I no longer like, and the code is crap, so I want to clean that up. I'd estimate the code migration is probably 80% done. Also going to add a few more features (eg. captcha, maybe a proper "subreddits" feature, basic mod tools)
Once it's open source, the idea is that anyone can contribute to the codebase, and changes will update on the live site. Or someone could just make their own frontend, fork it, whatever. I also think there's a shortage of open source code for real production apps in Node.js (more complex than a damn to-do app, the dumbest app to use as an example yet for whatever reason everyone does for reasons I'll never understand), so I think there's educational value as well. Also to be honest I'd like a code review myself as I'm sure there are many ways to improve it that I hadn't thought of. AI will make all this hand coding obsolete in 5-10 years anyways, so gotta take advantage of our last vestige of relevance before either AI apocalypse or UBI utopia.
After that, unless this actually gets a ton of traction, I'll probably redirect my focus to other projects (https://mindgarden.app/, and some other ideas I have), and start looking for paid work. Hit me up if you're hiring and open to remote work from any timezone (I'm currently in Seoul). It's weird how I'm such a significantly better developer than I was 4 years ago, yet it seems harder to find work and the compensation packages I'm seeing are often no higher than what I was getting 4 years ago - except now prices are like 50% higher. I think the golden age of software engineers is over. But on the positive side there's always opportunity, and I'm way more focused than my older self, so I know I'll make it work.
Also I welcome all feedback and suggestions on how to potentially make this thing site succeed. I've got some ideas, but I think it's probably going to be more of a long game.
Keep up the good work, Jeremy! I dig the site and think it can be huge. I appreciate the UI and high quality posts. I also look forward to the open sourcing!