I've never been incarcerated, but the open source path worked for me. But on the other hand, my family is well off enough that I could afford a year writing code for free. I'd imagine that most people getting out of prison need to earn a living right away.
Ok, so a company which facilitates open source contributions by prisoners, possibly giving them greater leverage in their parole hearings as well as post-incarceration career prospects? Does that sound like something worth doing to anyone here?