rsto

I'm writing documentation for a public (REST) API and wonder which layout is preferred by developers.

For example, Stripe uses a three-column layout: a navigation pane, a column to describe the API, a column with examples and error codes (see [1]).

In contrast, Mailgun uses two columns: a navigation pane and a colum including the API description and examples (see [2]).

Both layouts seem popular, and I'd like to better understand what's making you prefer one over the other. I'm talking about reference documentation, assuming there's also a separate user guide.

Personally, I find the three column layout harder to read: the example pane often wastes a lot of space and squeezes the actual documentation in the middle. On the other hand, I see more and more sites (and tools [3]) using that layout, so that's probably just me?

Thanks for your thoughts!

[1] https://stripe.com/docs/api

[2] https://documentation.mailgun.com/en/latest/api-sending.html

[3] https://github.com/lord/slate

(edit: simplified the layout descriptions)

This is a niche question to fellow HNers in Austria:

I'm in the process of starting an online side-business and am unsure which legal entity to choose. Currently, I am doing my consulting as EPU but for an online company I'd rather split my private person and the company as much as possible (clearer separation of finances, less legal attack surface). But a GmbH in Austria for a ramen-profitable side-project is expensive!

How did you get started? Do you have experience with German UGs or GmbHs? I dread the cross-border tax issues. Thanks!

UPDATE: Since I last discussed this with my tax advisor, things seem to have become simpler: this site [1] claims total founding costs of a German UG for an Austrian to be ~800 EUR, with yearly costs of ~250 EUR for tax advisory. Still, I'd be very interested if anyone has first-hand experience with such a setup or similar.

[1] http://www.ugstattltd.at/unsere_leistungen.htm

I am looking to rent a bunch of dedicated servers. The optimal provider would be serious about green IT and operate in a jurisdiction that reasonably respects privacy (e.g. handing out data for a warrant is fine, sucking up all traffic is not). The product should include DDOS protection.

So far, I’ve narrowed down my options to:

- Orange Website, operating in Iceland [1]

- OVH, operating in France in Canada [2]

- ArtMotion, operating in Switzerland [3]

Orange fits nearly all requirements, but their pricing compared to OVH is steep. OVH, on the other hand, is a French company and I am not sure if data hosted in their Canadian datacenter falls out of the recent French surveillance law [4]. ArtMotion cost a bit less than Orange, are privacy-aware but don’t seem to have a green agenda.

Would you have any others to recommend? Or do you have experience with the aforementioned that you can share?

Thanks!

[1] https://www.orangewebsite.com/green-dedicated-servers.php

[2] https://www.ovh.com/us/about-us/datacenters.xml

[3] https://www.artmotion.eu/swiss-datacenter/

[4] https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2015/07/france-new-surveillance-law-a-major-blow-to-human-rights/

[edited for readability]

During a regular work week I work a couple of days in a co-working space, the other times either from home or at a client site - and I’m tired of carrying around my laptop all the time.

My dream setup would consist of a couple of low-fi workstations, say a bunch of Intel NUCs or the like, one at each site. Then, whenever I leave in the middle of work at one site, I can go to the other and pick up from there. However, due to sub-optimal internet connectivity I can’t use thin clients with a cloud-based X server. At each work location, I’d need to run my jobs on that machine (either bare metal, or virtualised). Is there a way to e.g. synchronise one virtual machine image across the workstations, when I switch locations? I wouldn’t need to run two workstations at once. Bonus points if a program or configuration, that I install one machine also shows up on the other workstations. I have no special requirements, any Unix-like OS with a window system is OK.

Is anyone of you running such a setup? Or have you found a similar solution? I have that nagging feeling I can’t see the forest for the trees, given that I haven’t with IT setups since 1999. Thanks!

An ongoing theme on HN is to price consulting projects based on the value achieved. Often, people in this context equate value with revenue increase, and almost always they are former web contractors that now mix marketing consulting in their offerings [1]. I find this advice intriguing but fail to connect this to my situation.

Currently, I am running a solo shop as a systems architect and programmer specialised in telecommunications. My clients are big telcos, the projects are part of multi-year initiatives, and their goals range from compliance with regulatory requirements, to new product roll-outs, to cost-cutting. I build them small, special-purpose network services for which the big IT service providers are either too expensive, too slow or just don't have the right skills at hand. I charge either by day or fixed-price, where the latter is still based on an effort estimate, plus contingency.

How should I ever get to the position to price by value? Often, my direct project sponsors themselves can't put a price tag on the value achieved. Working deep on the systems layer, there are many hops and even more so contributors between me and my clients top or bottom line. I see zero chance to get a procurement department agree to a profit-share with a single guy like me.

Do I have the wrong clients for this kind of pricing strategy? Or has someone here achieved it while staying small/solo in the enterprise world? I could also find gigs as a business analyst/program manager at my telco clients, but I don't think it would make a difference in the pricing strategy.

[1] A notable exception from this seems to be tptacek's Matasano. Still, with no experience in the security industry, I wonder how value-based pricing works there, given that security services IMHO seem more geared to preserve value than increase.