12 ms·

Working on databases from prison

849 points by dvektor 1y ago

yu3zhou4 1y ago
A great read, the first part is also worth reading. I’m happy for you Preston and wishing you all the best
gavinray 1y ago
Preston, great to see you made it this far! We emailed, back when the post about your circumstances was shared here in Nov. 2023. I knew you'd see success. Huge shoutout to Jessica and UL for all the work they do, and here's to a bright future ahead for you =)
- dvektor 1y ago
  Thanks Gavin! Really appreciate the support.
voidUpdate 1y ago
I'm glad to hear accounts of people in the prison system who are given the opportunity to do some good. While I am admittedly less sympathetic of dealers, the fact that the author recognises that they were in a bad situation and have been able to make positive progress since being given the opportunity to is really nice to hear
- komali2 1y ago
  I don't know the circumstances of this case, but in many states, e.g. Texas my home state, simply having above an arbitrarily defined amount of a given controlled substance automatically gets you tagged with "intent to sell." An overloaded court system combined with a pay-to-win "justice" system means a lot of people take the charge in their plea deal even if they aren't dealers.
  - voidUpdate 1y ago
    In the part 1 article, the author mentions "making tens of thousands of dollars a week" in relation to drugs, which is why I talked about dealing. Obviously I've got no proof of that or anything, so I'm happy to be proven wrong. Drug charges are difficult. In my opinion, if you are using drugs personally, I don't really see a problem. If you commit some crime while under the influence which could harm another person, eg driving while drugged, obviously that's a different story, and coercing other people into it isn't great either, but if you're just smoking in your own home, its your body that you're altering. If you're selling to other people, that feels a bit more iffy to me because you're affecting other people with that... though I do realise that preventing the sale is effectively the same as preventing the usage...
    - int_19h 1y ago
      When it comes to selling, the nature of the drug also matters IMO. I don't have a problem with people selling stuff like cannabis or LSD to consenting able-minded adults, but given the nature of opioids, there's no responsible way to consume them outside of medical necessity.
  - BryantD 1y ago
    Without judging this guy's current state, he makes it clear in his first blog post that he was a dealer. "So instead of coming back home broke and apologetic, I ended up pretty deep into this and soon was making tens of thousands of dollars a week, very much unapologetically." Then, after his first sentence: "I was left with the difficult choice of either living there and walking to a temp agency with hopes of making $10.50/hour doing manual labor (without an ID or social security card at this point), or getting on a bus to NYC to see some associates, and coming back in a week or so with $15-25k in my pocket and living in comfy luxury hotels until I could rent an apartment... I chose the latter: and obviously, was back in prison after a short 14 months of addiction and misery."
    - dvektor 1y ago
      Yes unfortunately for a long time my whole life revolved around 'drug culture', and so did of all my 'friends' and my entire social circle. I certainly cannot act like I did not deserve to come to prison, and it's definitely the only reason I am even alive right now. Coming to prison, specifically in Maine, was the best thing that ever happened to me.
JonKKelly 1y ago
That is pretty awesome! I can imagine there are so many others that would benefit from programs like the one you are a part of, congratulations!
manesioz 1y ago
God bless you.
chatmasta 1y ago
How does the compensation work? The US prison system has a bit of a nasty reputation when it comes to exploiting prison labor, so I hope those practices aren’t carrying over into these more forward-looking types of initiative… but at the same time, surely Turso isn’t paying full SWE salary?
- laufey 1y ago
  Just curious, why would you expect him to be paid less? I know historically pay is bad for prisoners, but if he's working the same hours and is just as productive as any other employee, shouldn't he be paid the same? I could potentially see paying someone less if they were coming in with much less experience than what's usually hired for in the role, but that doesn't seem to be the case here.
  - the__alchemist 1y ago
    I speculate: Supply and demand. He doesn't have many options, so doesn't have leverage in negotiating.
  - chatmasta 1y ago
    Well that’s basically what I’m wondering. Is this a normal employment arrangement - subject to same state payroll tax, labor laws, employee rights, etc - with the additional detail that he resides in prison? Or does the employer need to go through some gateway enforced by the prison with maximum compensation or other restrictions? But otherwise, in terms of why he’d default to being paid less… yes, what the other commenter said: supply and demand, aka leverage. Turso could choose to be a good citizen and pay him the same as any other employee, but that’s subject to all the questions I posed above, regarding the structural requirements placed on them as the employer.
    - glommer 1y ago
      I am the CEO of Turso. We are free to negotiate any salary we want with him, the prison system doesn't put any caps, up or down. We are paying him well, and certainly not trying to enslave him or anything. There are some restrictions on how the payments are made but not the amount. We also don't pay him healthcare, because he wouldn't be able to use it.
giztu 1y ago
Somewhat relieved to see that this is the drugs prison guy, and not one of the two pedo prison guys who sometimes post on HN with their fake sob stories pretending to be hard done to while concealing their depravity. In contrast I'm glad to see this guy has been open and honest, owning up to his mistakes and starting to turn his life around and make amends for the harm he's caused others. Well done. Edit: Please disregard that last paragraph. Just saw the document @bjorkandkd linked.
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
- echelon 1y ago
  I tried to hire someone with a drug-related felony conviction to work on a Rust project with me. The guy was awesome, and he was super excited about the work we were doing. Unfortunately, due to the circumstances of our world today, he was understandably too anxious to move from his current job. He worried he'd never be able to find employment as an ex-felon if the runway ran out. I felt really bad for the guy. I wish things worked differently.
- bastawhiz 1y ago
  Please see my nested reply to his comment, which shows that @bjorkandkd is not only making assumptions, but that his allegation is unsupported by even by the document that he linked.
0xbadcafebee 1y ago
> I quickly outgrew the curriculum, preferring instead to spend ~15+ hours a day on projects and open source contributions. TIL from 15-20yrs old I was a prisoner But seriously, programs like these need to be made available to more people, incarcerated or not. There's millions of people in this country who have basically no access to employment. Remote work could not only be a lifeline to those communities, it's advantageous to employers and good for the economy.
- code_for_monkey 1y ago
  shame were doing a large push to return to the office anyways
  - stronglikedan 1y ago
    there's a good reason for that, fortunately or unfortunately. the numbers don't lie
    - Macha 1y ago
      Now if only someone could produce those numbers...
      - barbazoo 1y ago
        They don’t lie whether they’re there or not.
    - GuinansEyebrows 1y ago
      which numbers? the property values for big office buildings?
      - barbazoo 1y ago
        A connection which hasn’t been proven to be meaningfully contributing to RTO.
bjorkandkd 1y ago
[flagged]
- furkansahin 1y ago
  Why did you post it twice?
  - kookamamie 1y ago
    They are adamant in their conviction to oust the impostor, it appears.
bjorkandkd 1y ago
[flagged]
- mkoryak 1y ago
  Thanks for letting us know, user that was created 5 minutes ago to write this 2 times in the comments.
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
- calmoo 1y ago
  Not to defend the author, but I think a more generous reading of this section from the blogpost: > A brief summary is that I'm currently serving prison time for poor decisions and lifestyle choices I made in my twenties, all related to drugs. Is that their poor decisions were related to drugs.
  - Hamuko 1y ago
    The blog article that he links to has this in it: >My name is Preston Thorpe, I'm 31 years old and I've spent just under 10 years of my life in Prison (all for non-violent drug crimes.) https://pthorpe92.dev/intro/my-story/ https://pthorpe92.dev/intro/my-story/
    - qualeed 1y ago
      Seems accurate. He was convicted of drug crimes, not assault. People are real quick to forget about innocent until proven guilty for some reason.
      - dylan604 1y ago
        There's also a difference of being guilty of doing something but never having charges brought against you. Many times in domestic violence cases we see the victim not press charges. It doesn't mean the victim was not the recipient of violence.
code_for_monkey 1y ago
and hear i am browsing hacknews at work on monday morning, wishing I was still asleep. Really gives you perspective, I hope you get out safe and sound and soon and things work out for you.
timvdalen 1y ago
The Changelog recently did a long form interview with this guy: https://changelog.com/news/refactored-in-prison-0X1D https://changelog.com/news/refactored-in-prison-0X1D
b0a04gl 1y ago
what if prison ends up becoming the most distraction-free dev environment. no meetings, no slack pings, no linkedin recruiters, just you, a terminal, and 10 years of uninterrupted focus. kinda terrifying how productive that sounds
- barbazoo 1y ago
  Almost sounds like you haven’t watched season 3 episode 9 of a little documentary called The Office.
- mcmcmc 1y ago
  No pings, just people who may decide to shiv or rape you
  - wavemode 1y ago
    Nobody gets shivved or raped in the kind of low-security prisons where non-violent criminals go.
    - mcmcmc 1y ago
      It’s more rare sure, but it still happens. Either way my point was that romanticizing prison is a terrible take
- rawgabbit 1y ago
  Don’t give our overlords any ideas. Open plan offices are bad enough.
- financypants 1y ago
  Something like prison probably is the most productive environment one could be in. It almost completely eliminates the need for self discipline because it's all enforced.
- msgodel 1y ago
  If you're not dating anyway and don't own your house outright prison with computer access honestly doesn't sound bad at all. No need to worry about rent, no need to worry about healthcare, no need deal with all this social crap.
mlissner 1y ago
Maine's remote work program is an incredibly promising development to prevent recidivism. The amazing thing about it is that it gives real jobs to prisoners that they can seamlessly continue after they get out of prison. Normally when you get out, it's impossible to get a job, and the clock is ticking. This leads to desperation, which leads to bad behavior. There is a real risk of exploitation, but if it's properly managed, remote work for prisoners is one of the most hopeful things I've heard about the prison system. It gives people purpose while there and an avenue to success once they're out.
- lo_zamoyski 1y ago
  This sounds good. It is important that we recognize all of the purposes of punishment instead of overemphasizing one or neglecting the other. Punishment has three ends: retribution, rehabilitation, and deterrence. It is important that you pay for your crime for the sake of justice; it is charitable and prudent to rehabilitate the criminal, satisfying the corrective end of punishment; and would-be criminals must be given tangible evidence of what awaits them if they choose to indulge an evil temptation, thus acting as a deterrent. In our systems today, we either neglect correction, leaving people to rot in prison or endanger them with recidivism by throwing them back onto the streets with no correction, or we take an attitude of false compassion toward the perp by failing to inflict adequate justice, incidentally failing the deterrent end in the process.
  - tomrod 1y ago
    Rehabilitation is retribution. So many things can never have full repatriation. The best we can do is have society acknowledge, forcefully, the wrongs done via prison sentencing. But then many countries go wrong on policy - punitive imprisonment leads to worse individual and social outcomes than a rehabilitation focus.
  - ty6853 1y ago
    One of the most baffling elements of the justice system is how little the victim is involved in the justice. 'Society' should not lord the lion's share of the justice decisions over the victims. Quite often the victim would prefer compensation and release over getting fuck all while the perpetrator languages in prison at the tax dollar of the victim. Much of 'justice' has been usurped from the victim into a jobs campaign for the state.
deleted 1y ago
[deleted]
skeptrune 1y ago
Extremely hopeful that more prison systems adopt work programs like Maine's
johnnyApplePRNG 1y ago
Speaking of incarcerated tech gurus... I've been really liking what Sam Bent [0] has been producing lately. If you're allowed/able to watch YouTube in American prisons, I would definitely check him out! [0] https://www.youtube.com/@Sam_Bent/videos https://www.youtube.com/@Sam_Bent/videos
keepamovin 1y ago
Reading this, I think it's a crime that this guy is not out on early release. The majority of his sentence was for marijuana, which is now widely decriminalized and in some places legalized.
- BizarroLand 1y ago
  I agree he should be released but using the mail to transport marijuana across state lines is definitely not legalized or decriminalized anywhere.
  - keepamovin 1y ago
    No but in my mind on principle because it’s legalized and decriminalized, this should not be a 10 year sentence.
    - deleted 1y ago
      [deleted]
- bastawhiz 1y ago
  I do not believe this is true. Looking at the record, marijuana is one of a few drugs. The specific incident that led to his current sentence is related to a powerful opioid. This is corroborated by Preston's own personal website.
  - keepamovin 1y ago
    Blog post said majority of sentence was for marijuana. Where do you find this other stuff? I mean it would be sad if he was lying - but i don’t see any of that.
    - Hamuko 1y ago
      https://apnews.com/general-news-d68dca63e95946fbb9cc82f385404d52 https://apnews.com/general-news-d68dca63e95946fbb9cc82f38540... Saying that he got his time for marijuana seems to be a big stretch.
robinhood 1y ago
I’m so glad this is possible. Kudos to Turso for giving this man a new chance. We often criticize people for past bad behavior, but in many cases (not all, of course), they deserve a second chance in life, since most of us can change.
studentik 1y ago
In Soviet Union having prisoners do soft labor was called Sharashka. This scales and creates incentives to have more prisoners doing cheap labor.
- bargainbin 1y ago
  The key delineation here is the work is voluntary. I was uneasy reading the article and weighing it up, realised that the author could choose not to work whilst he serves time. If he was being coerced into labour however, which the for-profit prison undoubtedly makes profit from, it’s simply unacceptable; indentured servitude, slavery, call it what you will, it’s bad for society in every way because it allows the ruling class to steal labour from the working class under the guise of “rehabilitation”.
tiffanyh 1y ago
Very interesting. I have some basic questions if anyone knows: a. do all inmates get computer & internet access? (or only some, dependent upon the crime you committed) b. do the inmates have to pay to use the computer & internet? I ask because I hear commissary is prohibitively expensive in prison. c. how much time per week do inmate get to use the computer with internet access? (and is that time guaranteed they will get) d. are there job boards specific to helping inmates find remote friendly jobs that are accepting of incarcerated individuals?
- msarchet 1y ago
  There’s a link to a post on his personal blog that explains a lot of this
- qingcharles 1y ago
  This place is an absolute rarity. Almost zero jails or prisons have any access to the Internet at all. Many of the places I know won't even allow a print-out of any information from the Internet (e.g. Wikipedia, Facebook etc) and won't allow any books about computers for security reasons. Commissary is generally "gas station" prices in jails and prisons. Some of the inmates I work with right now have tablets that allow music streaming from a small catalog, but I think it is $3/hour to listen to it. Obviously the families and friends of the loved are the ones burdened with paying for all of these, unless you can get an in-prison job that pays, e.g. dealing drugs is probably the highest paid, sadly.
kaboomshebang 1y ago
Inspirational story. Thanks for sharing :)
deleted 1y ago
[deleted]
h1fra 1y ago
Prison is about rehabilitation, anything else is either slavery or poor politics. Very glad to see this blog post!
- qingcharles 1y ago
  I've got a lot of experience working with prisoners. I've almost never seen any rehabilitative programs of any value at all. Mostly the programs I see are "learn to mop floors." I just helped someone to complete a year-long paralegal course and qualification while inside. The Illinois prison system has now banned this since (a) it came with the option of facilities awarding a 6 month reduction in the length of a non-violent sentence, (b) required the facility to allow someone to proctor the final exam.
danscan 1y ago
Locked up, locked in! On a serious note, I think inmates should have 24/7 laptop computer access with (at least) limited sessions of internet connectivity.
- qingcharles 1y ago
  The place I was at you weren't even allowed a book about computers, lest you might gain enough knowledge to somehow access a facility computer and hack your way to freedom. They had a computer lab, but it was only for Mavis Beacon. I found the C# compiler that's hidden away in the Windows directory and started teaching programming on the sly. Luckily one of the nuns at the facility took pity on me and bought C# Weekend Crash Course on Amazon (with the CD) and sneaked it through the security checks for me so I'd have a good reference to teach from.
  - aerostable_slug 1y ago
    For those who might be wondering, facilities/counties/states vary a huge amount on what is and isn't allowed. In California they teach inmates coding, while in other states all computer-related technical books are banned as security risks. Same with basic electrical work — Promising People has an interesting VR program for teaching electrical helper skills, but in some correctional systems that would be considered unacceptably risky. Tablet and similar system operators/vendors have to shape the material available to the inmates to suit the local restrictions.
TechDebtDevin 1y ago
Crazy to keep seeing PThorpe from Primes Discord on HNs front page. I hope youre doing alright in there.
treebeard901 1y ago
When the Government is so corrupt they can take your ability to work any kind of job away from you without even arresting you for anything, having employment from prison is a real achievement.
josh_carterPDX 1y ago
This needs to be a model for other states to follow. Too often, incarcerated people are left with very few real options to have a viable career beyond some sort of physical trade like construction, hospitality, or food service. And while all of those career options are great, they do not often provide a real living wage. Hopefully, we see more of this throughout the country!
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
itpragmatik 1y ago
Fantastic accomplishment, Preston! Wish you good luck and the very best ahead!
jamesblonde 1y ago
The scary thing is that Maine is considered progressive for prison. My former (brilliant) student developed schizophrenia and tried to rob a bank with a gun because the voices told him to do it. He got 10 years in jail. I think every EU country would treat him for his condition until he was safe to rejoin society. In the US, he was thrown in the slammer. https://www.irishtimes.com/news/irishman-jailed-for-10-years-in-us-1.895426 https://www.irishtimes.com/news/irishman-jailed-for-10-years...
- Aurornis 1y ago
  > I think every EU country would treat him for his condition until he was safe to rejoin society. In the US, he was thrown in the slammer. From the article, his parents express frustration at their inability to get him committed for treatment in Ireland. They cite the lack of response there as a key factor in his spiral. Also, the US facility he was sent to did offer psychiatric treatment and the judge urged him to accept it: > The judge recommended that Clarke serve his sentence at a prison that would give him access to psychiatric treatment and he urged Clarke to accept it. I understand your objections to the “slammer” but the sentence was actually as lenient as could be, offered the psychiatric treatment he needed, and had an opportunity for him to return to Ireland in a couple years: > Speaking on behalf of the Clarke family, solicitor Eugene O'Kelly said that they were relieved at the relative leniency of the sentence and expressed the hope Clarke could be returned to Ireland "within a year or two" to serve out his sentence.
  - sealeck 1y ago
    Not everyone is capable of reading an article :)
  - jamesblonde 1y ago
    Why do you call it a facility? Do i need to explain the difference between treatment at a pyschiatric center vs the offer of psychiatric treatment in a prison? If you think they are somehow equivalent, you are very much mistaken. You are putting somebody with pyschiatric illness in with hardened criminals. Do they welcome him with open arms?
croemer 1y ago
Great story, I wish this inspired more prisons around the world to follow suit. For those who don't want to hit Google, the conviction was for possessing 30g of a synthetic opioid "U-47700". A normal dose is ~1mg, 10mg can be deadly (so this was 30000 trips or killing 3000). The drug became illegal across the US on November 14, 2016. "Police said they found the drug in Thorpe’s apartment in Manchester in December 2016" (https://apnews.com/general-news-d68dca63e95946fbb9cc82f385404d52 https://apnews.com/general-news-d68dca63e95946fbb9cc82f38540...) "Preston Thorpe, age 25, was sentenced by the Hillsborough County Superior Court (Northern District) to 15 to 30 years stand committed in the New Hampshire State Prison for possession of the controlled drug 3,4-dicholo-N-[2-(dimethylamino)-cyclohexyl]-N-methylbenzamide (also known as "U-47700") with the intent to distribute. U-47700 is a synthetic opioid that is classified as a Schedule I drug." (https://www.doj.nh.gov/news-and-media/preston-thorpe-sentenced-state-prison-possession-u-47700-synthetic-opioid-intent#:~:text=Willard%20announce%20that%20Preston%20Thorpe,as%20%22U%2D47700%22 https://www.doj.nh.gov/news-and-media/preston-thorpe-sentenc...)
- TulliusCicero 1y ago
  Wow, 15-30 years seems like an insane amount of time for drug possession. Even if the amount implied dealing, that still seems really high. Don't people typically get less than that for sexual assault or armed robbery?
  - brabel 1y ago
    In Northern Europe you get less than that for murder.
    - pookha 1y ago
      Unlikely...He's an incredibly callous individual that was cutting drugs with a substance orders of magnitude more dangerous than fentanyl so he could drive an Audi and live the high life. Given that they tied several deaths back to his operation, and that it was a multi-state joint effort, I doubt he'd get a slap on the wrist by a European judges.
ArthurStacks 1y ago
[flagged]
- bastawhiz 1y ago
  Sorry, but this is a disgusting take. Addiction is well established as an illness. It's outright shameful to suggest that someone who is going through recovery is purely doing it as a grift. What you're suggesting is that we can't trust that rehabilitation is possible or reasonable, which is a deeply cruel prospect.
  - ArthurStacks 1y ago
    And I'm sure if you had your way the prisons would be empty of anyone convicted of a drug related crime because 'they and their terribly sad addictions/illnesses are the real victims' Theyre in prison as a punishment for crimes
    - glommer 1y ago
      Preston has never asked for anyone's sympathy or understanding about his past crimes. If you read his stuff, he owns it fully, is incredibly sorry. He's the first to admit that what he did had very real consequences.
      - ArthurStacks 1y ago
        Great. Now let him go sit in a jail cell and recieve his punishment, and give the dev opportunity to someone who didnt sell drugs and chose the easy route
      - greglansky 1y ago
        He's never honestly admitted his crimes in public, on his blog or anywhere. He doesn't own it fully, he tries to absolve himself of ill-intent thoroughly.
    - bastawhiz 1y ago
      To what end? To spend tax dollars? To make them rot away indefinitely? What good are we doing to society if we are keeping rehabilitated individuals locked up at taxpayer expense? There's no objectively correct amount of punishment. The correct amount of punishment should be the smallest amount of time necessary to be confident that the criminal won't cause more harm to society, especially when the crime was committed as the result of a treatable illness like addiction.
ConanRus 1y ago
Prison Architect ITT
ahahs 1y ago
I think this guy went to prison and realized how much easier it is to sit down and work instead of dealing drugs.
jiveturkey 1y ago
> preferring instead to spend ~15+ hours a day on projects and open source contributions. This makes it clear it's not just that the prison provides such opportunities, but that inmates are motivated to take advantage of such. Too many fully law abiding folks spend 15+ hours of screen time just doom scrolling. There's a real lesson here for similar community services. For folks whose upbringing maybe doesn't afford such advantages, if services can be available where students can find reprieve from harsh daily life and be (very) modestly taken care of, I can see value. At a much lesser level, I benefited enormously from school, church, and community services where I could apply myself, things my family could never afford. So, like school lunches but for practical developer education.
pastage 1y ago
I have done 90 hours weeks when I was younger, I really hope he manages to get some exercise and down time. It is not healthy to work that much even if it escapism from a worse situation.
einpoklum 1y ago
> I've spent just under 10 years of my life in Prison (all for non-violent drug crimes.) (sigh) another victim of the US obsession with sticking as many people as possible in prison. I wish the regime is overthrown somehow and he can get released.
djoldman 1y ago
I fear that the distinctly American emphasis on personal independence and deprioritization of root causes has led to our persistent and failed war on drugs. Unfortunately, many of the laws written and policies enacted presume an idealistic fantasy where humans are much more rationally acting, thoughtful, and informed than they really are. The clearest example of this is raising statutory penalties from "many years" to "many many years" in prison. What is this supposed to achieve? Do people think that folks out there: 1. know the laws well enough to know how many years they'll get for the crime they're about to commit? 2. (and if knowledgable about penalty changes) think, "oh well I would have done X and risked many years in prison but now that it's many many years, I won't" ? If huge prison sentences and massive resources spent on crime detection+ enforcement were the answer, America wouldn't have an illegal drug problem.
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
ElijahLynn 1y ago
I definitely cried reading this. Happy tears.
allenrb 1y ago
This confirms something I’ve occasionally wondered about. As an adult with a job, a side business, a family, and an ancient house, I can still remember the incredible focus of youth. No responsibilities. I’m not saying that I envy anyone in prison — it sucks whether you’ve “earned it” or not, but I’ve always wondered how productive a person could be while locked up. Glad to see him making the most of the opportunity. With care and feeding, he’s got a good shot at getting out and staying out.
sneak 1y ago
It’s amazing to me that society still tolerates the torture of human beings who have engaged in activities that have no victims. This guy did years in solitary (plainly recognized as torture by all unbiased authorities on the matter) for selling marijuana.
commandersaki 1y ago
This is all good and well. Would people be amenable to the same opportunity for say Hans Reiser?
- hananova 1y ago
  Is he ever getting out? I'm not too informed on how long his sentence is. If the answer is yes, then yes.
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
wagslane 1y ago
I've had the chance to interact with both Preston and Clyde (Preston helped Clyde get going in code as well) - Clyde actually completed like all the backend courses on boot dev and is doing great at unlocked labs. anyhow, thanks for all you did to help Clyde Preston!!! and thanks to glauber and turso for giving Preston a chance, he's such a a cool guy with such a cool story
fergie 1y ago
Theres something nice about the idea of living in a cell and just programming.
yahoozoo 1y ago
This reminds me of The Office (US) episode where everyone thinks prison sounds better than working at Dunder Mifflin at which point they’re introduced to “Prison Mike” to be scared straight.
bitbasher 1y ago
I heard Hans Reiser is looking for some work behind bars. Talented programmer.

849 points by dvektor 1y ago

A great read, the first part is also worth reading. I’m happy for you Preston and wishing you all the best

Preston, great to see you made it this far! We emailed, back when the post about your circumstances was shared here in Nov. 2023. I knew you'd see success. Huge shoutout to Jessica and UL for all the work they do, and here's to a bright future ahead for you =)

dvektor 1y ago
Thanks Gavin! Really appreciate the support.

voidUpdate 1y ago

I'm glad to hear accounts of people in the prison system who are given the opportunity to do some good. While I am admittedly less sympathetic of dealers, the fact that the author recognises that they were in a bad situation and have been able to make positive progress since being given the opportunity to is really nice to hear

komali2 1y ago
I don't know the circumstances of this case, but in many states, e.g. Texas my home state, simply having above an arbitrarily defined amount of a given controlled substance automatically gets you tagged with "intent to sell." An overloaded court system combined with a pay-to-win "justice" system means a lot of people take the charge in their plea deal even if they aren't dealers.
- voidUpdate 1y ago
  In the part 1 article, the author mentions "making tens of thousands of dollars a week" in relation to drugs, which is why I talked about dealing. Obviously I've got no proof of that or anything, so I'm happy to be proven wrong. Drug charges are difficult. In my opinion, if you are using drugs personally, I don't really see a problem. If you commit some crime while under the influence which could harm another person, eg driving while drugged, obviously that's a different story, and coercing other people into it isn't great either, but if you're just smoking in your own home, its your body that you're altering. If you're selling to other people, that feels a bit more iffy to me because you're affecting other people with that... though I do realise that preventing the sale is effectively the same as preventing the usage...
  - int_19h 1y ago
    When it comes to selling, the nature of the drug also matters IMO. I don't have a problem with people selling stuff like cannabis or LSD to consenting able-minded adults, but given the nature of opioids, there's no responsible way to consume them outside of medical necessity.
- BryantD 1y ago
  Without judging this guy's current state, he makes it clear in his first blog post that he was a dealer. "So instead of coming back home broke and apologetic, I ended up pretty deep into this and soon was making tens of thousands of dollars a week, very much unapologetically." Then, after his first sentence: "I was left with the difficult choice of either living there and walking to a temp agency with hopes of making $10.50/hour doing manual labor (without an ID or social security card at this point), or getting on a bus to NYC to see some associates, and coming back in a week or so with $15-25k in my pocket and living in comfy luxury hotels until I could rent an apartment... I chose the latter: and obviously, was back in prison after a short 14 months of addiction and misery."
  - dvektor 1y ago
    Yes unfortunately for a long time my whole life revolved around 'drug culture', and so did of all my 'friends' and my entire social circle. I certainly cannot act like I did not deserve to come to prison, and it's definitely the only reason I am even alive right now. Coming to prison, specifically in Maine, was the best thing that ever happened to me.

JonKKelly 1y ago

That is pretty awesome! I can imagine there are so many others that would benefit from programs like the one you are a part of, congratulations!

manesioz 1y ago

God bless you.

chatmasta 1y ago

How does the compensation work? The US prison system has a bit of a nasty reputation when it comes to exploiting prison labor, so I hope those practices aren’t carrying over into these more forward-looking types of initiative… but at the same time, surely Turso isn’t paying full SWE salary?

laufey 1y ago
Just curious, why would you expect him to be paid less? I know historically pay is bad for prisoners, but if he's working the same hours and is just as productive as any other employee, shouldn't he be paid the same? I could potentially see paying someone less if they were coming in with much less experience than what's usually hired for in the role, but that doesn't seem to be the case here.
- the__alchemist 1y ago
  I speculate: Supply and demand. He doesn't have many options, so doesn't have leverage in negotiating.
- chatmasta 1y ago
  Well that’s basically what I’m wondering. Is this a normal employment arrangement - subject to same state payroll tax, labor laws, employee rights, etc - with the additional detail that he resides in prison? Or does the employer need to go through some gateway enforced by the prison with maximum compensation or other restrictions? But otherwise, in terms of why he’d default to being paid less… yes, what the other commenter said: supply and demand, aka leverage. Turso could choose to be a good citizen and pay him the same as any other employee, but that’s subject to all the questions I posed above, regarding the structural requirements placed on them as the employer.
  - glommer 1y ago
    I am the CEO of Turso. We are free to negotiate any salary we want with him, the prison system doesn't put any caps, up or down. We are paying him well, and certainly not trying to enslave him or anything. There are some restrictions on how the payments are made but not the amount. We also don't pay him healthcare, because he wouldn't be able to use it.

giztu 1y ago

Somewhat relieved to see that this is the drugs prison guy, and not one of the two pedo prison guys who sometimes post on HN with their fake sob stories pretending to be hard done to while concealing their depravity. In contrast I'm glad to see this guy has been open and honest, owning up to his mistakes and starting to turn his life around and make amends for the harm he's caused others. Well done. Edit: Please disregard that last paragraph. Just saw the document @bjorkandkd linked.

deleted 1y ago
[deleted]
echelon 1y ago
I tried to hire someone with a drug-related felony conviction to work on a Rust project with me. The guy was awesome, and he was super excited about the work we were doing. Unfortunately, due to the circumstances of our world today, he was understandably too anxious to move from his current job. He worried he'd never be able to find employment as an ex-felon if the runway ran out. I felt really bad for the guy. I wish things worked differently.
bastawhiz 1y ago
Please see my nested reply to his comment, which shows that @bjorkandkd is not only making assumptions, but that his allegation is unsupported by even by the document that he linked.

0xbadcafebee 1y ago

> I quickly outgrew the curriculum, preferring instead to spend ~15+ hours a day on projects and open source contributions. TIL from 15-20yrs old I was a prisoner But seriously, programs like these need to be made available to more people, incarcerated or not. There's millions of people in this country who have basically no access to employment. Remote work could not only be a lifeline to those communities, it's advantageous to employers and good for the economy.

code_for_monkey 1y ago
shame were doing a large push to return to the office anyways
- stronglikedan 1y ago
  there's a good reason for that, fortunately or unfortunately. the numbers don't lie
  - Macha 1y ago
    Now if only someone could produce those numbers...
    - barbazoo 1y ago
      They don’t lie whether they’re there or not.
  - GuinansEyebrows 1y ago
    which numbers? the property values for big office buildings?
    - barbazoo 1y ago
      A connection which hasn’t been proven to be meaningfully contributing to RTO.

bjorkandkd 1y ago

[flagged]

furkansahin 1y ago
Why did you post it twice?
- kookamamie 1y ago
  They are adamant in their conviction to oust the impostor, it appears.

bjorkandkd 1y ago

[flagged]

mkoryak 1y ago
Thanks for letting us know, user that was created 5 minutes ago to write this 2 times in the comments.
deleted 1y ago
[deleted]
calmoo 1y ago
Not to defend the author, but I think a more generous reading of this section from the blogpost: > A brief summary is that I'm currently serving prison time for poor decisions and lifestyle choices I made in my twenties, all related to drugs. Is that their poor decisions were related to drugs.
- Hamuko 1y ago
  The blog article that he links to has this in it: >My name is Preston Thorpe, I'm 31 years old and I've spent just under 10 years of my life in Prison (all for non-violent drug crimes.) https://pthorpe92.dev/intro/my-story/ https://pthorpe92.dev/intro/my-story/
  - qualeed 1y ago
    Seems accurate. He was convicted of drug crimes, not assault. People are real quick to forget about innocent until proven guilty for some reason.
    - dylan604 1y ago
      There's also a difference of being guilty of doing something but never having charges brought against you. Many times in domestic violence cases we see the victim not press charges. It doesn't mean the victim was not the recipient of violence.

code_for_monkey 1y ago

and hear i am browsing hacknews at work on monday morning, wishing I was still asleep. Really gives you perspective, I hope you get out safe and sound and soon and things work out for you.

timvdalen 1y ago

The Changelog recently did a long form interview with this guy: https://changelog.com/news/refactored-in-prison-0X1D https://changelog.com/news/refactored-in-prison-0X1D

b0a04gl 1y ago

what if prison ends up becoming the most distraction-free dev environment. no meetings, no slack pings, no linkedin recruiters, just you, a terminal, and 10 years of uninterrupted focus. kinda terrifying how productive that sounds

barbazoo 1y ago
Almost sounds like you haven’t watched season 3 episode 9 of a little documentary called The Office.
mcmcmc 1y ago
No pings, just people who may decide to shiv or rape you
- wavemode 1y ago
  Nobody gets shivved or raped in the kind of low-security prisons where non-violent criminals go.
  - mcmcmc 1y ago
    It’s more rare sure, but it still happens. Either way my point was that romanticizing prison is a terrible take
rawgabbit 1y ago
Don’t give our overlords any ideas. Open plan offices are bad enough.
financypants 1y ago
Something like prison probably is the most productive environment one could be in. It almost completely eliminates the need for self discipline because it's all enforced.
msgodel 1y ago
If you're not dating anyway and don't own your house outright prison with computer access honestly doesn't sound bad at all. No need to worry about rent, no need to worry about healthcare, no need deal with all this social crap.

mlissner 1y ago

Maine's remote work program is an incredibly promising development to prevent recidivism. The amazing thing about it is that it gives real jobs to prisoners that they can seamlessly continue after they get out of prison. Normally when you get out, it's impossible to get a job, and the clock is ticking. This leads to desperation, which leads to bad behavior. There is a real risk of exploitation, but if it's properly managed, remote work for prisoners is one of the most hopeful things I've heard about the prison system. It gives people purpose while there and an avenue to success once they're out.

lo_zamoyski 1y ago
This sounds good. It is important that we recognize all of the purposes of punishment instead of overemphasizing one or neglecting the other. Punishment has three ends: retribution, rehabilitation, and deterrence. It is important that you pay for your crime for the sake of justice; it is charitable and prudent to rehabilitate the criminal, satisfying the corrective end of punishment; and would-be criminals must be given tangible evidence of what awaits them if they choose to indulge an evil temptation, thus acting as a deterrent. In our systems today, we either neglect correction, leaving people to rot in prison or endanger them with recidivism by throwing them back onto the streets with no correction, or we take an attitude of false compassion toward the perp by failing to inflict adequate justice, incidentally failing the deterrent end in the process.
- tomrod 1y ago
  Rehabilitation is retribution. So many things can never have full repatriation. The best we can do is have society acknowledge, forcefully, the wrongs done via prison sentencing. But then many countries go wrong on policy - punitive imprisonment leads to worse individual and social outcomes than a rehabilitation focus.
- ty6853 1y ago
  One of the most baffling elements of the justice system is how little the victim is involved in the justice. 'Society' should not lord the lion's share of the justice decisions over the victims. Quite often the victim would prefer compensation and release over getting fuck all while the perpetrator languages in prison at the tax dollar of the victim. Much of 'justice' has been usurped from the victim into a jobs campaign for the state.

deleted 1y ago

[deleted]

skeptrune 1y ago

Extremely hopeful that more prison systems adopt work programs like Maine's

johnnyApplePRNG 1y ago

Speaking of incarcerated tech gurus... I've been really liking what Sam Bent [0] has been producing lately. If you're allowed/able to watch YouTube in American prisons, I would definitely check him out! [0] https://www.youtube.com/@Sam_Bent/videos https://www.youtube.com/@Sam_Bent/videos

keepamovin 1y ago

Reading this, I think it's a crime that this guy is not out on early release. The majority of his sentence was for marijuana, which is now widely decriminalized and in some places legalized.

BizarroLand 1y ago
I agree he should be released but using the mail to transport marijuana across state lines is definitely not legalized or decriminalized anywhere.
- keepamovin 1y ago
  No but in my mind on principle because it’s legalized and decriminalized, this should not be a 10 year sentence.
  - deleted 1y ago
    [deleted]
bastawhiz 1y ago
I do not believe this is true. Looking at the record, marijuana is one of a few drugs. The specific incident that led to his current sentence is related to a powerful opioid. This is corroborated by Preston's own personal website.
- keepamovin 1y ago
  Blog post said majority of sentence was for marijuana. Where do you find this other stuff? I mean it would be sad if he was lying - but i don’t see any of that.
  - Hamuko 1y ago
    https://apnews.com/general-news-d68dca63e95946fbb9cc82f385404d52 https://apnews.com/general-news-d68dca63e95946fbb9cc82f38540... Saying that he got his time for marijuana seems to be a big stretch.

robinhood 1y ago

I’m so glad this is possible. Kudos to Turso for giving this man a new chance. We often criticize people for past bad behavior, but in many cases (not all, of course), they deserve a second chance in life, since most of us can change.

studentik 1y ago

In Soviet Union having prisoners do soft labor was called Sharashka. This scales and creates incentives to have more prisoners doing cheap labor.

bargainbin 1y ago
The key delineation here is the work is voluntary. I was uneasy reading the article and weighing it up, realised that the author could choose not to work whilst he serves time. If he was being coerced into labour however, which the for-profit prison undoubtedly makes profit from, it’s simply unacceptable; indentured servitude, slavery, call it what you will, it’s bad for society in every way because it allows the ruling class to steal labour from the working class under the guise of “rehabilitation”.

tiffanyh 1y ago

Very interesting. I have some basic questions if anyone knows: a. do all inmates get computer & internet access? (or only some, dependent upon the crime you committed) b. do the inmates have to pay to use the computer & internet? I ask because I hear commissary is prohibitively expensive in prison. c. how much time per week do inmate get to use the computer with internet access? (and is that time guaranteed they will get) d. are there job boards specific to helping inmates find remote friendly jobs that are accepting of incarcerated individuals?

msarchet 1y ago
There’s a link to a post on his personal blog that explains a lot of this
qingcharles 1y ago
This place is an absolute rarity. Almost zero jails or prisons have any access to the Internet at all. Many of the places I know won't even allow a print-out of any information from the Internet (e.g. Wikipedia, Facebook etc) and won't allow any books about computers for security reasons. Commissary is generally "gas station" prices in jails and prisons. Some of the inmates I work with right now have tablets that allow music streaming from a small catalog, but I think it is $3/hour to listen to it. Obviously the families and friends of the loved are the ones burdened with paying for all of these, unless you can get an in-prison job that pays, e.g. dealing drugs is probably the highest paid, sadly.

kaboomshebang 1y ago

Inspirational story. Thanks for sharing :)

deleted 1y ago

[deleted]

h1fra 1y ago

Prison is about rehabilitation, anything else is either slavery or poor politics. Very glad to see this blog post!

qingcharles 1y ago
I've got a lot of experience working with prisoners. I've almost never seen any rehabilitative programs of any value at all. Mostly the programs I see are "learn to mop floors." I just helped someone to complete a year-long paralegal course and qualification while inside. The Illinois prison system has now banned this since (a) it came with the option of facilities awarding a 6 month reduction in the length of a non-violent sentence, (b) required the facility to allow someone to proctor the final exam.

danscan 1y ago

Locked up, locked in! On a serious note, I think inmates should have 24/7 laptop computer access with (at least) limited sessions of internet connectivity.

qingcharles 1y ago
The place I was at you weren't even allowed a book about computers, lest you might gain enough knowledge to somehow access a facility computer and hack your way to freedom. They had a computer lab, but it was only for Mavis Beacon. I found the C# compiler that's hidden away in the Windows directory and started teaching programming on the sly. Luckily one of the nuns at the facility took pity on me and bought C# Weekend Crash Course on Amazon (with the CD) and sneaked it through the security checks for me so I'd have a good reference to teach from.
- aerostable_slug 1y ago
  For those who might be wondering, facilities/counties/states vary a huge amount on what is and isn't allowed. In California they teach inmates coding, while in other states all computer-related technical books are banned as security risks. Same with basic electrical work — Promising People has an interesting VR program for teaching electrical helper skills, but in some correctional systems that would be considered unacceptably risky. Tablet and similar system operators/vendors have to shape the material available to the inmates to suit the local restrictions.

TechDebtDevin 1y ago

Crazy to keep seeing PThorpe from Primes Discord on HNs front page. I hope youre doing alright in there.

treebeard901 1y ago

When the Government is so corrupt they can take your ability to work any kind of job away from you without even arresting you for anything, having employment from prison is a real achievement.

josh_carterPDX 1y ago

This needs to be a model for other states to follow. Too often, incarcerated people are left with very few real options to have a viable career beyond some sort of physical trade like construction, hospitality, or food service. And while all of those career options are great, they do not often provide a real living wage. Hopefully, we see more of this throughout the country!

deleted 1y ago
[deleted]

itpragmatik 1y ago

Fantastic accomplishment, Preston! Wish you good luck and the very best ahead!

jamesblonde 1y ago

The scary thing is that Maine is considered progressive for prison. My former (brilliant) student developed schizophrenia and tried to rob a bank with a gun because the voices told him to do it. He got 10 years in jail. I think every EU country would treat him for his condition until he was safe to rejoin society. In the US, he was thrown in the slammer. https://www.irishtimes.com/news/irishman-jailed-for-10-years-in-us-1.895426 https://www.irishtimes.com/news/irishman-jailed-for-10-years...

Aurornis 1y ago
> I think every EU country would treat him for his condition until he was safe to rejoin society. In the US, he was thrown in the slammer. From the article, his parents express frustration at their inability to get him committed for treatment in Ireland. They cite the lack of response there as a key factor in his spiral. Also, the US facility he was sent to did offer psychiatric treatment and the judge urged him to accept it: > The judge recommended that Clarke serve his sentence at a prison that would give him access to psychiatric treatment and he urged Clarke to accept it. I understand your objections to the “slammer” but the sentence was actually as lenient as could be, offered the psychiatric treatment he needed, and had an opportunity for him to return to Ireland in a couple years: > Speaking on behalf of the Clarke family, solicitor Eugene O'Kelly said that they were relieved at the relative leniency of the sentence and expressed the hope Clarke could be returned to Ireland "within a year or two" to serve out his sentence.
- sealeck 1y ago
  Not everyone is capable of reading an article :)
- jamesblonde 1y ago
  Why do you call it a facility? Do i need to explain the difference between treatment at a pyschiatric center vs the offer of psychiatric treatment in a prison? If you think they are somehow equivalent, you are very much mistaken. You are putting somebody with pyschiatric illness in with hardened criminals. Do they welcome him with open arms?

croemer 1y ago

Great story, I wish this inspired more prisons around the world to follow suit. For those who don't want to hit Google, the conviction was for possessing 30g of a synthetic opioid "U-47700". A normal dose is ~1mg, 10mg can be deadly (so this was 30000 trips or killing 3000). The drug became illegal across the US on November 14, 2016. "Police said they found the drug in Thorpe’s apartment in Manchester in December 2016" (https://apnews.com/general-news-d68dca63e95946fbb9cc82f385404d52 https://apnews.com/general-news-d68dca63e95946fbb9cc82f38540...) "Preston Thorpe, age 25, was sentenced by the Hillsborough County Superior Court (Northern District) to 15 to 30 years stand committed in the New Hampshire State Prison for possession of the controlled drug 3,4-dicholo-N-[2-(dimethylamino)-cyclohexyl]-N-methylbenzamide (also known as "U-47700") with the intent to distribute. U-47700 is a synthetic opioid that is classified as a Schedule I drug." (https://www.doj.nh.gov/news-and-media/preston-thorpe-sentenced-state-prison-possession-u-47700-synthetic-opioid-intent#:~:text=Willard%20announce%20that%20Preston%20Thorpe,as%20%22U%2D47700%22 https://www.doj.nh.gov/news-and-media/preston-thorpe-sentenc...)

TulliusCicero 1y ago
Wow, 15-30 years seems like an insane amount of time for drug possession. Even if the amount implied dealing, that still seems really high. Don't people typically get less than that for sexual assault or armed robbery?
- brabel 1y ago
  In Northern Europe you get less than that for murder.
  - pookha 1y ago
    Unlikely...He's an incredibly callous individual that was cutting drugs with a substance orders of magnitude more dangerous than fentanyl so he could drive an Audi and live the high life. Given that they tied several deaths back to his operation, and that it was a multi-state joint effort, I doubt he'd get a slap on the wrist by a European judges.

ArthurStacks 1y ago

[flagged]

bastawhiz 1y ago
Sorry, but this is a disgusting take. Addiction is well established as an illness. It's outright shameful to suggest that someone who is going through recovery is purely doing it as a grift. What you're suggesting is that we can't trust that rehabilitation is possible or reasonable, which is a deeply cruel prospect.
- ArthurStacks 1y ago
  And I'm sure if you had your way the prisons would be empty of anyone convicted of a drug related crime because 'they and their terribly sad addictions/illnesses are the real victims' Theyre in prison as a punishment for crimes
  - glommer 1y ago
    Preston has never asked for anyone's sympathy or understanding about his past crimes. If you read his stuff, he owns it fully, is incredibly sorry. He's the first to admit that what he did had very real consequences.
    - ArthurStacks 1y ago
      Great. Now let him go sit in a jail cell and recieve his punishment, and give the dev opportunity to someone who didnt sell drugs and chose the easy route
    - greglansky 1y ago
      He's never honestly admitted his crimes in public, on his blog or anywhere. He doesn't own it fully, he tries to absolve himself of ill-intent thoroughly.
  - bastawhiz 1y ago
    To what end? To spend tax dollars? To make them rot away indefinitely? What good are we doing to society if we are keeping rehabilitated individuals locked up at taxpayer expense? There's no objectively correct amount of punishment. The correct amount of punishment should be the smallest amount of time necessary to be confident that the criminal won't cause more harm to society, especially when the crime was committed as the result of a treatable illness like addiction.

ConanRus 1y ago

Prison Architect ITT

ahahs 1y ago

I think this guy went to prison and realized how much easier it is to sit down and work instead of dealing drugs.

jiveturkey 1y ago

> preferring instead to spend ~15+ hours a day on projects and open source contributions. This makes it clear it's not just that the prison provides such opportunities, but that inmates are motivated to take advantage of such. Too many fully law abiding folks spend 15+ hours of screen time just doom scrolling. There's a real lesson here for similar community services. For folks whose upbringing maybe doesn't afford such advantages, if services can be available where students can find reprieve from harsh daily life and be (very) modestly taken care of, I can see value. At a much lesser level, I benefited enormously from school, church, and community services where I could apply myself, things my family could never afford. So, like school lunches but for practical developer education.

pastage 1y ago

I have done 90 hours weeks when I was younger, I really hope he manages to get some exercise and down time. It is not healthy to work that much even if it escapism from a worse situation.

einpoklum 1y ago

> I've spent just under 10 years of my life in Prison (all for non-violent drug crimes.) (sigh) another victim of the US obsession with sticking as many people as possible in prison. I wish the regime is overthrown somehow and he can get released.

djoldman 1y ago

I fear that the distinctly American emphasis on personal independence and deprioritization of root causes has led to our persistent and failed war on drugs. Unfortunately, many of the laws written and policies enacted presume an idealistic fantasy where humans are much more rationally acting, thoughtful, and informed than they really are. The clearest example of this is raising statutory penalties from "many years" to "many many years" in prison. What is this supposed to achieve? Do people think that folks out there: 1. know the laws well enough to know how many years they'll get for the crime they're about to commit? 2. (and if knowledgable about penalty changes) think, "oh well I would have done X and risked many years in prison but now that it's many many years, I won't" ? If huge prison sentences and massive resources spent on crime detection+ enforcement were the answer, America wouldn't have an illegal drug problem.

deleted 1y ago
[deleted]

ElijahLynn 1y ago

I definitely cried reading this. Happy tears.

allenrb 1y ago

This confirms something I’ve occasionally wondered about. As an adult with a job, a side business, a family, and an ancient house, I can still remember the incredible focus of youth. No responsibilities. I’m not saying that I envy anyone in prison — it sucks whether you’ve “earned it” or not, but I’ve always wondered how productive a person could be while locked up. Glad to see him making the most of the opportunity. With care and feeding, he’s got a good shot at getting out and staying out.

sneak 1y ago

It’s amazing to me that society still tolerates the torture of human beings who have engaged in activities that have no victims. This guy did years in solitary (plainly recognized as torture by all unbiased authorities on the matter) for selling marijuana.

commandersaki 1y ago

This is all good and well. Would people be amenable to the same opportunity for say Hans Reiser?

hananova 1y ago
Is he ever getting out? I'm not too informed on how long his sentence is. If the answer is yes, then yes.
deleted 1y ago
[deleted]

wagslane 1y ago

I've had the chance to interact with both Preston and Clyde (Preston helped Clyde get going in code as well) - Clyde actually completed like all the backend courses on boot dev and is doing great at unlocked labs. anyhow, thanks for all you did to help Clyde Preston!!! and thanks to glauber and turso for giving Preston a chance, he's such a a cool guy with such a cool story

fergie 1y ago

Theres something nice about the idea of living in a cell and just programming.

yahoozoo 1y ago

This reminds me of The Office (US) episode where everyone thinks prison sounds better than working at Dunder Mifflin at which point they’re introduced to “Prison Mike” to be scared straight.

bitbasher 1y ago

I heard Hans Reiser is looking for some work behind bars. Talented programmer.