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A comment on Ask HN: How does a hobby programmer get hired?. Parent comment

Re:Ask HN: How does a hobby programmer get hired? by 88913527 on Sunday January 01, 2023 @12:59PM (#34208795)
Contributing to open source can be a valuable sign. It shows the candidate could navigate a large repository, communicate with the maintainers, and successfully merge something-- the ancillary soft skills needed when developing software in a team environment.
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Re:Ask HN: How does a hobby programmer get hired? by rubberband on Sunday January 01, 2023 @09:26PM (#34213525)
Sorry if I gave the wrong impression when I mentioned the OSS angle... My (hindsight: almost meaningless) point was that the whole "open / vs closed source ideology" doesn't matter. You could contribute to the Donald Trump C# repo for all I care... It's the contribution that matters to me.

If an "amateur" (or whatever) programmer can contribute to OSS... That means so much! You list the implications very well, so thank you.

I try to hire based on ability, not qualifications (welcome to Arbitrary Definitions 101?).

Boils down to: if you work at a gas station, and get a PR merged into the Linux Kernel... Yeahhhh... We can talk about that senior dev position ;) Is five weeks vacation okay with you?

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