[PLUG] Downturns - more or less open source coders?

[M. Edward (Ed) Borasky]

Keith Lofstrom wrote:
> We are entering a time of low employment for technical folk.  I
> am a self-employed chip-slinger, so I am spending a lot of time
> preparing sales pitches and working on new products to find more
> business.  But I wonder what the software people are doing.
> 
> So, two questions for those of you that sometime participate in
> open source software projects:
> 
> If you lost your job, and had time on your hands, would you be
> more or less likely to contribute to open source projects?

More likely, mostly because there is very little chance of getting a new 
tech gig without a solid open source track record.

> Do you
> see open source as a good advertising method and resume filler, or
> do you see it as a distraction from job searches, desperate min-wage
> fill-in work, daytime TV, and getting drunk in your trailer?

It's not about advertising or resume filler ... it's about contributing 
useful software.
> 
> If you wanted to do more open source in your newly expanded spare
> time, what would help you do so?

Low-cost health insurance. :)
-- 
M. Edward (Ed) Borasky
ruby-perspectives.blogspot.com/

"A mathematician is a machine for turning coffee into theorems." -- 
Alfréd Rényi via Paul Erdős