EmeraldSky

I used to contribute to large open source projects. I don’t anymore. I used to read books about various programming languages and CS topics, thinking it would all help advance my career somehow. I perceive all of these activities as too risky now. It takes away time I could spend with loved ones or on other topics I enjoy. I think the best engineers combine advanced CS knowledge with LLM tool use, but the ROI on obtaining that knowledge is much less certain now. Now I have a much higher threshold for what I spend time/money on, other than hobby stuff… if it doesn’t directly lead to some return (like investing) or a chance at some entrepreneurial success, it’s not worth bothering about these days imo. Probably was never a good choice, but contributing to open source projects with the hope it will advance your career is a fool’s errand these days, same goes for useless side projects and leetcode. I don’t think I’m articulating my feelings on this very well, but hopefully you get the gist.

I find your story really interesting.. I’d like to hear more about this housing lease fraud if you’re willing to share. Anyways, it sounds like you’re underestimating yourself, you’ve shipped unity games and websites already. I agree with the other comment regarding contributing to open source software.

Even with 5 (albeit small) linux kernel patches, 2 Firefox patches.. employers weren’t interested. I’ve stopped contributing to open source completely. I’m considering switching fields. It was interesting but these days I need some ROI, personally.