[sokoloff]

I don't expect my employees or candidates to contribute to open source, but the curve of those who do is shifted to the right in my opinion over those who don't. (It's the practical part of why I fight for HR policies to allow continued contributions to open-source, even unrelated to work: because otherwise I close myself off to that subset of the population, in addition to my philosophical stance of 'what you do outside of work is none of my business'.)

It's in much the same way if I were recruiting for an auto mechanic for a repair shop, a body shop, or a race team: someone who had their own custom car is probably a better bet for me than someone who is otherwise identical on paper but drives a stock Toyota Camry. I'll absolutely hire the qualified driver of the Camry, but I'll prefer the driver of the '65 Candy Apple Red Mustang that they restored and painted in their garage.