Open Directory of Software Developers

I got to the point where the infrastructure works, I have sufficient data and it doesn't cost more than I can afford to sustain it for as long as it takes.

In the meantime, an attempt to get professional recruiters to use it failed. Very few of them hire remote and don't have enough data on people's location to make it useful. The other problem was the disconnect in the information offered and what they look for. It was a worse option than LinkedIn for them. I decided not put any more effort in making it a recruiter's tool.

The next step is to build a usable front-end and connect anonymous profiles with employers, which is the main goal of the project.

The site is getting closer to being useful for its intended purpose. The data is limited to GitHub profiles only, but the advanced search form makes it possible to find someone.

A lot of changes were made in response to feedback on IH. It was invaluable. Thanks IH :)

The few recruiters who tried it came back with negative feedback due to the disconnect of how they understand technology (they mostly don't) and how the technology can be measured (very low level). It's a challenge I need to tackle next.

Ah, and I need a co-founder.

1. Found some cash to keep me fed for a few months. It's not in the bank yet, though. The cheque is in the mail, as they say.
2. Found 2 potential collaborators. It will take some time before there are any PRs to be merged.
3. Scheduled 2 podcast interviews. Need to buy a decent mic.
4. Got a ton of useful feedback from other IndieHackers. Thanks @prakis, @mzrnsh, @orliesaurus, @danp, @deependrax and many others.
5. Had a day off yesterday. What a luxury! Feeling refreshed.

There was a lot of work done on the codebase since the last update. Most of it was on the infra side to minimize costs.

Most of the code in the world is closed-source and written for someone who pays you for that. It cannot be uploaded to GitHub or even shown to the next employer to prove your skills (hence the much derided coding tests and whiteboarding interviews).
StackMuncher App (https://github.com/stackmuncher/stm_app) can run on the developer's machine and analyze that closed-source code locally without disclosing a single line of it. Only the analysis metrics are uploaded to the Developer's Profile. Now I can start signing up developers as active members.

This is a vanity metric, but it was a bit of a door opener when I talked to others about a sponsorship or trying to get their feedback. The thing is, most of the GitHub projects are either course-work by students or something foundational. They are not the practical business type applications that employers care about.

StackMuncher is a 2-sided marketplace: software engineers meet employers. This space is very crowded and marketing can drown in noise. 1. I found a way of reaching out to devs and employers at the same time to keep it balanced. 2. I settled on a funding model that is aligned with the interests of developers, although employers pay for it. It started looking like there may be a business in this.

GitHub has a "Available for hire" flag in developer profiles, but it does not show anywhere in the front end. You can only see it via the API. I started downloading repos and building up the database using public repos. It started an arms race between the insane amounts of data GitHub holds and the meager AWS infrastructure I could afford.

A recruiter asked me how well I know C#. I didn't have a straight answer. I used it from its first release, but how many lines of it did I write in the last couple years? What is my breadth and depth of knowledge of C#/.Net? Can it be quantified?
I built a simple tool that analyzed my past C# projects to give me some metrics. It made me realize that those numbers are more accurate than vague self-assessments in outdated resumes.