[LRUG] Paths to open source contributions

[Vahagn Hayrapetyan]

>
> From a commercial perspective, ie looking for more work it makes sense as
> potential employers can get a good feel for your ability / programming style
> and also gives you an opportunity to collaborate with people you otherwise
> may not necessarily have the chance to work with.


While we're at it, my humble opinion is that the motivation to impress
potential employers should be the LAST concern when making an OSS
contribution. It should be something that provides value to a project and
something that others have a high chance to use and build upon. The "make
yourself visible" approach to open source is a regrettable one (again in my
opinion).

/ Vahagn

On Fri, May 8, 2009 at 2:15 PM, Jason Green <jason.green at nogeek.org> wrote:

> From a commercial perspective, ie looking for more work it makes sense as
> potential employers can get a good feel for your ability / programming style
> and also gives you an opportunity to collaborate with people you otherwise
> may not necessarily have the chance to work with.
>
> Jason Green
>
> Sent by Iphone
>
> Dynamic50 Web Production
> Ruby50 Recruitment Specialists
>
> Tel: +44 (0)845 409 1403
> Mobile: +44 (0)7850 732812
>
> http://www.dynamic50.com
> http://www.ruby50.com
>
>
> On 8 May 2009, at 12:00, Tim Benest <thb at taskforce.co.uk> wrote:
>
>  One motivation is that you want to give something back. Giving
>> financially as well as intellectually is an important facet to note.
>> If your commercial project gains from open source projects, then it
>> only seem fit to give something back to the community. There are many
>> open software foundations that aim to "feed the open source
>> developer", when working on the project becomes a full time  job.
>>
>> Just my tuppence worth
>>
>> Tim
>>
>> 2009/5/7 Vahagn Hayrapetyan <vahagnh at gmail.com>:
>>
>>> Hello,-
>>>
>>> I've been browsing the often impressive open source contributions of some
>>> of
>>> the Rails / Ruby luminaries when it struck me that I don't really
>>> understand
>>> how most open source projects originate. Essentially what I'd like to
>>> know
>>> is whether such contributions are most typically the bi-product of some
>>> main
>>> development effort or are they conceptualized and implemented for their
>>> own
>>> sake, from the very start.
>>>
>>> So if you have open source contributions, I hope you'll shed some light
>>> as
>>> to why you have them:
>>>
>>> You were solving a problem for yourself (a pet project perhaps), and
>>> ended
>>> up with extra code that you released as open source;
>>> You were working on someone else's problem (such as a client's), and
>>> ended
>>> up with extra code that you released as open source;
>>> You were bored and decided to make a contribution for the fun of it;
>>> You were being strategic. You realized that for the Kool Kids to work
>>> with
>>> you and the Beautiful People to go to bed with you, you NEED to have open
>>> source contributions before we arrive at web 3.12. (This is the path I'm
>>> feeling irresistibly pulled towards, by the force of destiny).
>>>
>>> As I realize that human behaviour is often influenced by several factors,
>>> compound answers (such as 1&4; or 3&4) are of particular interest.
>>>
>>> Thanks!
>>>
>>> / Vahagn
>>>
>>>
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