Ask HN: Engineers deserve better recognition. Can a protocol change that?

4 mzk_pi 3 7/27/2025, 8:54:57 PM

Many engineers contribute significantly to open source, infrastructure, civic tech, and social impact—but rarely get recognition beyond GitHub stars or token mentions.

What if we had a protocol that could quantify and validate such contributions—not in money, but in trust, transparency, and long-term social value?

Could such a structure change how engineers are valued, or is reputation still bound to institutions and capital?

Curious to hear your thoughts. Has anyone tried designing or experimenting with such systems?

Comments (3)

giantg2 · 41m ago

I don't really want prestige or widespread recognition. Small scale recognition and the respect of my peers seems adequate - just enough that if I'm looking for a job that someone in my network can hook me up with a reasonably decent one (~$120k).

muzani · 2h ago

I'm skeptical - it will be gamed, and suddenly everyone is doing this thing because it's part of the game. I used to rank top 5% in Stack Overflow, and it was a resume item. And now it's overrun by gatekeepers who only ensure that only the elites may ask questions.

mzk_pi · 2h ago

Thank you for sharing that — and I’m sorry you went through it.

You contributed, yet were later excluded. That’s exactly what our protocol is most carefully designed to prevent.

In our system: - Contributions are always recorded — not ignored. - Every action builds "prestige", a cumulative trust score. - Governance rights (like proposing or deciding future work) are based only on contribution history — not status or popularity. - And crucially, governance cannot be used to exclude others. It is designed solely to guide future contributions, not suppress participation.

So even if someone has more authority, it’s only to help steer future work — never to silence or reject others.

We’re trying to build a structure where trust grows from contribution, not control.

If you’re willing — what part of your experience felt most unfair? And what hurt you the most?

Please tell us. We truly want to understand — so no one else has to go through that.