tuckerpo

Where do you work that _isn't_ like that? Every job I've had in my 11 year career has had geriatrics at the top of the management chain.

Taking up airtime gets you promoted. It's kinda that simple.

mt7996 is MTK

"Woah dude, this is so revolutionary that if we keep pace, it'll like, change the world even more, man... we'd better slow down..."

"BUY BUY BUY BUY BUY BUY BUY"

Gone? It started rotten with Bell and hasn't gotten much better.

Ah, I remember when reversing hardware took weeks / months, an oscilloscope, logic analyzer, Ghidra/IDA, Wireshark, breakout boards, wireless sniffers... back in the olden days of... 2019.

> zero touch

> look inside

> there's a touch

Out of scope in this case means "we don't wanna pay you"

  Location: Denver, Colorado (CO)
  Remote: Yes, or hybrid, or on-site.
  Willing to relocate: Yes, within Colorado, east coast USA, or EU/UK 
  Technologies: C++, C, Python, (Java|Type)Script, assembly (ARM, MIPS, SHARC), Linux (userspace), Linux (kernel), embedded Linux (buildroot, Yocto, OpenWRT, uboot, grub), networking (802.11n,ac,ax,be,k,v,r,s, hostapd, wpa_supplicant, nl80211), , Windows (kernel, C runtime, MFC, WPF, C++, C#), Docker
  Résumé/CV: https://tuckerpo.me/ or curl https://tuckerpo.me/short-resume | jq
  Email: tuckerpolomik[@]gmail.com

Hi, I'm Tucker.

I'm a Senior Systems Engineer who specializes in making complicated systems actually work. My background is primarily in C and C++, Linux, embedded systems, networking, and low-level software development.

Over the past 8+ years I've worked everywhere from bootloaders, firmware, and Linux kernel modules to networking daemons, distributed systems, protocol implementations, backend services, and production user-space applications. I'm comfortable moving between hardware bring-up, operating systems, networking stacks, and application-layer software depending on what the problem requires.

I have particularly deep expertise in Linux and wireless networking, including 802.11 protocol development, Linux networking subsystems, hostapd/wpa_supplicant, OpenWRT-based platforms, authentication systems, cryptography, and large-scale connectivity infrastructure. My work has resulted in conference talks, published papers, patents, and contributions to major open-source networking projects. I'm additionally involved in standards bodies like the WFA, IEEE, and CSA, so very well versed in Wi-Fi infrastructure, standards, and implementation.

I tend to thrive in environments where engineers are trusted to solve difficult technical problems, own systems end-to-end, and ship software that customers actually use. Whether it's debugging kernel crashes, chasing race conditions across distributed systems, designing protocols, optimizing performance, or bringing up entirely new platforms, I'm happiest when working close to the technology.

Currently interested in systems programming, embedded Linux, infrastructure, backend engineering, networking, security, developer tooling, and performance-critical software.

If you need someone who can move comfortably between kernel space, user space, networking stacks, operating systems, back-end dev, front-end, mobile, and production software without needing n-many separate specialists, I'd be happy to chat.

Anecdotally I'd argue that it's not just "plenty", but the majority of people who only work one single job barely and/or pretend to work. I regularly see Principal+ engineers, VPs and Directors waddling around looking important or just staring at their monitors with a glazed over look.

Most corporations don't need nearly as many employees as they actually have, so if you can deliver exceptional results in 20 hours, why not dedicate the remaining 20 hours to another corp, and double your comp? Everyone wins.

HackerNews dudes claiming they do a true minimum 40 hours per week, every week, forever, of heads-down hard-work are deluding themselves. I really don't understand the overemployment hatred this forum has. There are plenty of folks who really do solid work at 2+ jobs, not half-assing and politicking.

Disclaimer: I am not OE.

All anecdotes I see about this dude is: "we hired him and he did a fantastic job, but once we found out he had multiple employment we fired him".

... why? If the guy's doing well by all metrics and not leaking IP, literally, who cares?

  Location: Denver, Colorado (CO)
  Remote: Yes, or hybrid, or on-site.
  Willing to relocate: Yes, within Colorado, east coast USA, or EU/UK
  Technologies: C++, C, Python, (Java|Type)Script, assembly (ARM, MIPS, SHARC), Linux (userspace), Linux (kernel), embedded Linux (buildroot, Yocto, OpenWRT, uboot, grub), networking (802.11n,ac,ax,be,k,v,r,s, hostapd, wpa_supplicant, nl80211), FPGA (VHDL, Verilog, Xilinx, Intel), Windows (kernel, C runtime, MFC, WPF, C++, C#), Docker
  Résumé/CV: https://tuckerpo.me/ or curl https://tuckerpo.me/short-resume | jq
  Email: tuckerpolomik[@]gmail.com

Hi, I’m Tucker — a senior systems engineer with 7+ years of experience and the battle scars to prove it. I’ve written firmware for chips that barely boot, kernel modules that talk to hardware no one admits to designing, and userland code that somehow still runs in production. Occasionally I get dragged into front-end work too, usually as penance for something I did in a past life.

Strong C++/C background, systems-level orientation. I’m at home in resource-constrained, real-time, or just-plain-hostile environments. Embedded Linux, networking stacks, wireless protocols, FPGAs, weird bootloaders—if it’s not glamorous and people usually avoid it, there’s a good chance I’ve done it. Currently getting into Rust and Zephyr in my free time. Also very very strong background in networking/Wi-Fi, with several talks, published papers, and patents.

Looking for roles where software is the product, not an afterthought. I’d prefer to avoid places where Jira boards are sacred texts, architecture is decided by slide deck, and everyone’s calendar is 95% “syncs” to discuss work nobody’s doing. If your team measures value in working code and shipped products, and not in "alignment", we’ll probably get along.

Spoken at conferences (NetworkX, prpl Summit, SCTE Expo), given demos to customers, and generally enjoy making things that actually work.

If you’ve got an interesting problem, and you aren’t staffed wall-to-wall with MBAs LARPing as engineers via spreadsheet, shoot me an email.

I’ll admit, I’ve shown some of the same symptoms you’re describing. Not out of malice, but as the end-state of long-term burnout and disengagement, at an old job, many years ago.

In my case, it was a slow, creeping decline. I started out hungry: shipping quality work, stepping up for projects well beyond my role and pay grade, even leading teams through fire drills and heroic launches. And the reward? A generic "atta boy!" and more work. Never the raise, the title bump, or real recognition.

My attitude over the span of years regressed considerably, shifting from a bright-eyed aw-shucks happy-go-lucky get-it-done engineer, and asymptotically approached, "dude, please leave me the fuck alone" whenever I heard a Teams ping or an Outlook inbox notification.

Really just smells like symptoms of extreme burnout, the input of which can only be determined by talking to this person. Could be 10 years is far too long in one job and they just want to coast now, could be personal reasons like a divorce or death of a close relative, could just be mid-life crisis, could be "I've got 1.8mm in my 401k, what're you gonna do, fire me?"