Stuck in a dead-end job, want some challenge, some recognition, a path to enhance your career... then getting involved in an open source project is just the right thing for you.

Brief History of Open Source

Open Source, as we know it, has its origins in the free software movement of the 1980s but communities that shared their work existed for a long time before that. Richard Stallman pioneered "free software" by launching the GNU Project in 1983. "Open Source Initiative" was founded in 1998 by Bruce Perens and Eric S. Raymond. (Brief History of Open Source).

Common Mis-Conceptions of Open Source Projects 

1. Open Source is for hackers and hobbyists alone but not any more (if it ever was).

The Boston Consulting Group Hacker Survey, Release 0.73, 2002, found that 45% of participants were experienced professionals, 20% Sys Admins and IT managers. It also found that 30% of the participants were paid by their day job to participate in open source projects, and this survey was in 2002. Open source projects have evolved since then..

2. I cant code and hence I cannot participate. Open source is not just about code any more.

Community projects like Gutenberg, even Wikipedia (same principle of participation) do not require any coding skills.

Steve Lake, associated with BSD Linux projects has an excellent article "The Open Source Principle of Participation" where he provides examples of  writers,  testers, UI designers,  teachers, even musicians participating in open source  and community projects.

Is There Any Money? 

Open Source projects are being now being internally funded by companies and/or externally funded by VC firms. VC funding of open source projects hit an all time high in the first quarter of 2008(Link). There is a special category of companies developing commercial open source software, e.x SugarCRM which are doing quite well. To answer the question, Yes, but plan on getting into a project on your own time and make a name for yourself, then opportunities will open up.

Coming Next: Whats in it for ME & How do I find the right Open Source Project 

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