

Could we help Greece? - tkyjonathan

Who would be interested in volunteering some of their time to help out with Greek government with whatever IT related work they need at this time of possible change?
======
greenyoda
1\. Wouldn't that be taking work away from Greek IT employees who desperately
need a source of income right now? (And what makes you think that the Greeks
aren't able to do their own IT work?)

2\. Even if you were familiar with the software that the many agencies of the
Greek government used, how could you possibly know enough about the problem
domains (e.g., deducting Greek payroll taxes) to be of any use? And I'm pretty
sure their systems are documented in Greek, not English.

3\. If you were the Greek government (or any government or company for that
matter), would you trust unknown foreigners to work remotely on your critical
systems?

------
mullen
Greece's problems are not IT but political and cultural. They want things from
the government but don't want to pay taxes. The Greek populace should have it
figured out by now that when a politician promises no taxes and retirement age
of 51, some one has to pay for it.

~~~
engager
This comment, to say the least, contains gross generalizations and
stereotypes. Talking about what "Greece's problems" are, that "they want
things from the government but don't want to pay taxes" and the "Greek
populace should have figured out by now"...

~~~
vixen99
No it does not.

1\. "Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has told the EU Parliament that very
early retirement schemes should be ended" 2\.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_evasion_and_corruption_in_...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_evasion_and_corruption_in_Greece)
" Tax evasion has been described by Greek politicians as "a national
sport"—with up to €30 billion per year going uncollected."

------
arkad
I believe that generous (in terms of giving their time) IT guys would be
found, but I can't imagine how crowdsourced IT resources could possibly help
Greek government?

------
rblatz
Wouldn't we be undercutting the Greek IT workers? Basically making their
skilled labor worth less? It's a common problem when we send food aid, and
price local farmers out of the market.

------
brownbat
Probably would be more efficient to write code for projects you know are
valuable, and donate some of your returns to Greece.

They may need code, but may need raw materials more, so would probably
appreciate something more fungible, let them prioritize.

Or you could save up for a Greek holiday. The thing they really need is
tourists (and people buying Greek goods):

[http://philhellenes.org/how-to-help-greece/](http://philhellenes.org/how-to-
help-greece/)

Some Greek charities below, no idea which are most reputable though:

[http://projecthopeforgreece.com/](http://projecthopeforgreece.com/)

[http://www.soschildrensvillages.org.uk/sponsor-a-
child/europ...](http://www.soschildrensvillages.org.uk/sponsor-a-
child/europe/greece)

[http://www.hellenic-hope.org/](http://www.hellenic-hope.org/)

[http://hellenicleaders.com/blog/help-greece-now-the-power-
of...](http://hellenicleaders.com/blog/help-greece-now-the-power-
of-10-campaign/)

[http://www.praksis.gr/en/about-praksis](http://www.praksis.gr/en/about-
praksis)

[http://mdmgreece.gr/en/our-mission/](http://mdmgreece.gr/en/our-mission/)

[http://desmos.org/who-we-are/?lang=en](http://desmos.org/who-we-are/?lang=en)

[https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/greek-
crowdfund#/story](https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/greek-crowdfund#/story)

------
smegel
Given Greece probably has an army of unemployed IT professionals who would
work for spare change this seems shortsighted to say the least.

------
jkot
I heard they have some issues with ATMs, perhaps we could look at that.

------
thothamon
I'd rather buy some Greek products that I know will make it back to Greece and
help their businesses. I think that would help them more, and help me too.
But, I'm not really sure how to do that.

~~~
titanomachy
Go to your local specialty foods store and look for things made in Greece, I
guess. Olive oil and cheese would probably be a good place to start. I can't
recommend the wine though, they tend to put pine resin in it for some reason.

------
nether
Oh lord. [https://twitter.com/shit_hn_says](https://twitter.com/shit_hn_says)

~~~
anon3_
A compendium of glib HN statements. Gold.

> There are a lot of talented coders on HackerNews who could built any app
> currently on the market in a weekend.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect)
right? That person clearly doesn't build much.

------
guest
you could organize a direct relief effort or campaign schauble to play nicer

