Ask HN: Ideas for projects like Etcd, traefik

[vshan]

I've always wanted to tackle some systems problems and develop an open source project similar to the likes of etcd, traefik, etc.

My goals are:

- Tackle distributed systems / systems problems, maybe something like a middleware which transparently solves a problem. Something like etcd, traefik, leveldb, redis, memcache, sqlite, etc.

- Grow my large-scale design skills

- Develop a small but thriving community of users who really enjoy the software

I understand there are lots of ideas for direct consumer facing software, but could anyone point me towards an unfulfilled niche in "distributed systems software"?

[boddu]

Etcd is an implementation of Raft protocol. You can check research papers in distributed computing field.

[vshan]

Could you please point me to any which don't have a turn-key solution like Etcd for Raft (and also have a need like consensus is a need for most distributed applications)?

[Hackbraten]

Could you imagine contributing to an existing project, one which already has a community? Less glamorous than a greenfield thing but possibly helpful in order to gauge whether maintaining a project and its users would be something you actually enjoy in the long run.

[vshan]

Yes, I've had the opportunity to contribute to some existing projects but I've been limited to making feature contributions. I feel like my "system design" skills don't get exercised as much which is why I wanted to go for a greenfield thing.

[verdverm]

Google doc like collaboration over webrtc, but synked with the backend.

Currently have a prototype and a need for this.