Senior Golang Engineer Needed — Port Tailscale-Related Distributed Networking Project to NetBSD

Project Overview

We are looking for a highly experienced Senior Golang Engineer to help adapt an existing distributed networking project inspired by Tailscale/WireGuard-style architecture to NetBSD 11.0.

The current project is written in Go (Golang) and works in its current environment, but it does not currently build or run correctly on NetBSD.

The goal of this project is to analyze the existing codebase, identify compatibility issues, implement the required fixes, and deliver a stable version that can successfully compile, run, and operate on NetBSD 11.0.

This is a systems-level engineering project, requiring strong knowledge of Go, networking, operating systems, concurrency, and distributed systems.

Project Goals

The selected developer will:

Port the existing Golang project to NetBSD 11.0.
Identify and fix platform-specific compatibility problems.
Ensure networking functionality works correctly on NetBSD.
Improve cross-platform compatibility.
Validate stability under concurrent workloads.
Provide documentation for building and running the project.
Current Situation

The existing application:

✅ Written in Golang
✅ Related to distributed networking / VPN technology
❌ Does not currently run on NetBSD
❌ Requires investigation and compatibility work

The developer will need to inspect the source code and determine the actual causes, which may include:

Linux-specific assumptions
Unsupported system calls
Network interface differences
Routing API differences
Dependency compatibility issues
Build configuration problems
OS-specific implementations
Technical Scope
Golang Development

The developer should have strong experience with:

Go modules
Goroutines
Channels
Context handling
Interfaces
Networking libraries
System programming
Cross-platform compilation
Testing frameworks
Debugging complex applications

The ability to understand and modify an existing large Go codebase is required.

Distributed Systems Experience

Strong understanding of distributed systems is required.

Experience with:

Distributed communication
Network services
Peer-to-peer systems
Service reliability
Fault tolerance
State synchronization
Distributed architectures
Performance optimization
High-Concurrency Programming

The project involves concurrent network operations.

Experience required with:

Goroutine management
Race condition debugging
Deadlock prevention
Synchronization techniques
Thread-safe programming
Connection management
Resource optimization
Performance troubleshooting
Networking / VPN Knowledge

Strong networking knowledge is required.

Experience with:

TCP/IP
UDP
NAT traversal
Routing
DNS
Firewalls
Network interfaces
Virtual networking
Packet handling
VPN technologies
Tunneling protocols

Experience with any of the following is highly valuable:

Tailscale
WireGuard
ZeroTier
Other mesh VPN/networking systems
NetBSD Requirements
Target Platform

NetBSD 11.0 (latest stable release)

The final solution must:

Build successfully on NetBSD 11.0.
Run successfully on NetBSD 11.0.
Support required networking functionality.
Be tested in a real NetBSD environment.
Include setup and deployment documentation.

Experience with BSD systems is strongly preferred:

NetBSD
FreeBSD
OpenBSD
Responsibilities
1. Codebase Analysis

You will:

Review the existing architecture.
Understand networking components.
Identify compatibility problems.
Analyze dependencies.
Identify OS-specific code.
2. NetBSD Porting

You will:

Configure NetBSD development environment.
Attempt project compilation.
Fix compiler/build errors.
Replace incompatible implementations.
Update dependencies if necessary.
Add platform-specific support.
3. Networking Validation

You will test:

Network communication.
Connection establishment.
Packet transmission.
Routing behavior.
VPN/tunnel functionality.
Failure recovery.
Performance.
4. Stability Testing

Ensure:

No critical crashes.
No major memory leaks.
No race conditions.
No deadlocks.
Stable long-running operation.
5. Documentation

Provide:

NetBSD setup instructions.
Required packages/dependencies.
Build commands.
Configuration steps.
Testing procedure.
Explanation of modifications.
Required Qualifications
Mandatory

✅ US Citizen
✅ 5+ years Golang experience
✅ Distributed systems experience
✅ High-concurrency programming experience
✅ Networking experience
✅ Strong debugging skills
✅ Strong English communication
✅ Ability to work independently

Preferred

⭐ NetBSD experience
⭐ BSD systems experience
⭐ Tailscale/WireGuard experience
⭐ VPN development experience
⭐ Systems programming experience
⭐ Open-source networking contribution experience

Communication Requirements

You must be able to:

Explain technical problems clearly.
Provide regular progress updates.
Discuss architecture decisions.
Communicate blockers quickly.
Collaborate remotely.
Proposal Requirements

Please include:

Confirm you are a US Citizen.
Years of Golang experience.
Distributed systems experience.
Networking/VPN experience.
BSD/NetBSD experience.
Experience with Tailscale, WireGuard, or similar technology.
Describe one difficult cross-platform problem you solved.
Your availability.
Your estimated rate.
GitHub/portfolio links if available.
Proposal Must Start With:

"I'm a US Citizen with X years of professional Golang experience."