pricing)help for commands, or just keep reading.P.F.
Aliases
PF Media · pfmedia.pl
TL;DR
An independent practice that builds reference implementations, custom protocols, and the long-running infrastructure that holds them up. Engagements measured in months, not hours. Paid accordingly.
Long Explanation
The work is split between published reference projects (a developer glossary, a deterministic search engine, a public AI-contribution protocol, a static analyzer) and selective consultancy or freelance engagements for clients who need systems built or held over years. The two halves inform each other: the public work sets the editorial bar; the private work funds it.
Operations are solo. There is no team to scale. That is the point — what gets shipped passes through one set of hands, with one editorial standard, and stays maintainable because one person can still hold the whole thing in their head five years later.
[verbose] Custody is the actual product. Most of what looks like "building" is actually preparation for "still working in 2031 without anyone touching it."
When To Use
- You need a custom protocol or wire format that other implementations will speak — documented well enough that someone else could write a compliant client from the spec alone.
- You have a system that has to run unattended for years, and the budget reflects that. Long custody is paid by retainer, not hour.
- You're integrating AI into a domain where correctness matters and "ship a wrapper around an LLM" isn't acceptable. Adversarial review pipelines, deterministic verification, source-cited output.
- You need infrastructure work for grown-up production. Linux, Nginx, deployment, monitoring, the unglamorous parts.
- The engagement is specific enough to scope but open-ended enough that the right answer might change shape during the work.
Avoid When
- You need a low-cost developer. The practice is paid by month, not hour, and rates are at the upper end. Selecting on price will produce disappointment for both sides.
- You need it shipped tomorrow. Speed work fits other practitioners better.
- The work is well-served by a template (WordPress, Shopify, a SaaS form builder). Templates exist for a reason. Use them.
- The role is managing other developers. The practice operates solo.
- The domain is one I haven't worked in. The right person exists for it; it isn't me.
Common Mistakes
- Mistaking "independent" for "cheap". The independence is editorial, not budgetary.
- Treating long custody as a billable-hour count. Custody is paid by retainer; the hours work themselves out.
- Asking for a quote before describing the system. The system shape determines whether the engagement is possible at all.
- Comparing rates to a generic agency hourly. Different product. The practice optimises for the system still working in five years, not for the lowest day-one cost.
- Hiring me to build something a template would solve. See: Avoid When.
First Contact
One paragraph describing what you have, what it should do, and roughly when. Skip rate questions — those get answered after the system is described, not before.
If it fits, the reply explains how engagement looks. If it doesn't, the reply still goes out, usually with a name of someone who would fit better.
DEBT profile
Engaging this practice, scored honestly against the standard introduced below in Examples [iv.].
d7Detectability. Quality is invisible until you're ~3 months in. Your hiring process cannot tell you in advance whether this fits your system.e8Effort. Once retained, switching mid-custody is real architectural cost, not a contract clause.b9Burden. Long custody is the point. You're committing to years, not sprints.t6Trap. You arrived for a quote. You're being asked about the shape of your system instead.
debt(d7/e8/b9/t6) — none of these are bugs. They're the cost profile. The page tells you upfront so you can sign or close the tab.
Examples
References
- codeclaritylab.com — primary publication surface.
- pfmedia.pl — this page.
- pfmedia.pl@gmail.com — correspondence.
- Yourself, considering hiring this practice. you are here
Related
Tags
Created & Updated
Created MMXXIV · Updated today
Rendered in the format of CodeClarityLab Glossary. There is, perhaps, a reason for that.