u/Glittering-Agency986

I’m a 3 YOE Platform Engineer currently handling two production SaaS products. I built one of them almost solo with one intern, and on the other, I handle both senior-level architecture and development. Both are large SaaS products — an enterprise app builder and a canvas-based test automation platform with a custom execution engine where tests are maintained in JSON instead of real code.

From this, I feel I have a strong hands-on grip on technology. I’m also preparing for interviews on weekends and late nights so I don’t miss any sudden opportunities.

That’s how I got an interview scheduled with a very good startup in Bengaluru. They contacted me for availability and shared the interviewer’s details. I don’t know if my timing was wrong or if the cosmos wanted this to happen, but the interview got rescheduled. Until then, I had stopped myself from checking the company and interviewer’s details. But when I got some free time after the rescheduling, my mind started pushing me to check.

I found that the contact person was an IIT Kanpur graduate from the 1982 batch who had founded companies and sold them to big firms at high valuations. The interviewer was an IIT Bombay graduate from 1986 and IISc graduate from 1990.

And here I am — a BSc CS graduate from a tier-3 college, with schooling from a countryside village. I didn’t even know what Group A and Group B meant in higher secondary school; I only learned about them halfway through 12th.

On the interview day, I was already intimidated by the IIT tag. For someone from a humble background like mine, IIT feels very big. I started fumbling badly in the interview. I couldn’t even answer which shell macOS uses, or basic MySQL JOIN and foreign-key questions — things I deal with in my daily work.

I have been looking for a job change casually, not that desperate, and I noticed that LinkedIn has so many fake job postings just to increase the reach of the job poster’s page.

They show companies as authenticated based on their followers, and the most interesting part is that there is an auto-checked checkbox in Easy Apply that automatically follows the job poster/company page.

So companies can gain reach on LinkedIn, which is apparently one of the things stakeholders/investors demand. They just post jobs instead of using authenticated posts.

If anyone knows why LinkedIn does this, or if I’m wrong about this, please tell me in the comments.

EDIT: Yeah, I know I can uncheck that checkbox, but that shouldn’t be a reason to divert from the actual point I’m making.

Also, at least they should give that filter to paid users because no one will buy LinkedIn Premium for any other reason than job searching.

I'm on the Pro subscription, and today I hit the usage limit after only 3–4 messages using Opus 4.8. Normally, I can use it for 2–3 hours before reaching the limit.

Is anyone else experiencing this today, or is it just me? I'm wondering if there's a temporary glitch or if something changed with the usage limits.

Edit: I found the issue. It appears to be related to the Claude Chrome extension. It's exhausting my usage credits within just 2 minutes even with sonnet or haiku of starting the session.

Hey r/buildinpublic,

With everyone rushing features and chasing AI, thorough manual testing has become the “boring” work that gets skipped.

As a software engineer, I actually enjoy it. So I turned it into a side project: offering deep manual QA and design-to-live audits for indie builders.

What I do:

• Flow-by-flow verification (journeys, edge cases, mobile)
• Figma vs production audits (last one found 72 mismatches on two “pixel perfect” pages)
• Bug hunting + clear reports with screenshots

I’m keeping it 100% manual — no automation sales.

Progress: Already helped a few projects and learned how many small issues still slip through.

Would love your thoughts:

• How do you handle testing/QA on your builds?
• What frustrates you most?

As part of this project, first 2 flows are free for a few people here. Comment or DM if you want an extra pair of eyes before launch.

Looking forward to your experiences!

My younger brother (16, just finished 10th grade) has almost zero experience with PCs but is very comfortable with smartphones and technology in general. I gifted him a computer and installed Ubuntu (with Chrome) instead of Windows. I also showed him how to use AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude and google search for learning and searching things on his own.

My reasoning:

• Ubuntu is free and beginner-friendly with a graphical interface.
• I thought it might encourage him to become more comfortable with general computer concepts such as file management, software installation, troubleshooting, and understanding how a computer works.
• It might help him become more independent and curious instead of only consuming content.

At the same time, I'm worried I might have made things harder for him since most software, school requirements, and people around him are Windows-oriented. He might get frustrated with compatibility issues or software that assumes Windows.

For people who have given teenagers their first proper computer:

• Do you think starting with Ubuntu helps build better skills long-term, or is it better to start with Windows for minimal friction?
• Any experiences with teens adapting (or struggling) in the beginning?
• What would you do differently?

Thanks!

Edit: To clarify, my goal isn't to turn him into a Linux user or future developer immediately.

I'm a software engineer myself, and my plan is to let him explore computers naturally for the next 1–2 years before introducing tech more seriously. The idea behind Ubuntu was to give him an environment where he can become comfortable with computers, file management, software installation, troubleshooting, AI tools, and independent learning.

So my question is less about Ubuntu vs Fedora/Mint and more about whether Linux or Windows is better for helping a teenager develop general computer literacy and curiosity.