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chatmasta06/16/20254 repliesview on HN

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?


Replies

glommer06/16/2025

I am the Turso CEO. We pay him a full salary, just not health care benefits.

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laufey06/16/2025

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.

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lo_zamoyski06/16/2025

> The US prison system has a bit of a nasty reputation when it comes to exploiting prison labor

Do you mean for private interest? If so, I would agree that prison labor should only be used for public benefit. And this labor should be part of the sentence.

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UncleEntity06/16/2025

/me putting on my Law & Order hat

Why should the taxpayers be burdened by the results of his bad decisions?

/me takes off hat

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