[sebow]

Nowadays mainly when talking projects that are related to mine or to future work.For example, a package that I want to use and I see it's buggy/not working properly.I'll point out the issue, offer some testing/feedback.If I really need it working I'll invest the time 'out of my pocket' to solve it and propose a solution to the dev(s).That way I know I also gave and received something.

To me, contributing to OSS for 'community' brownie points never had any meaning, mainly because it sometimes skews the perception of actual interest in a project with interest of a person to be recognized by contributing to that project.The latter is a legitimate goal, but most people are not coming forward with this aspect.I don't recommend entering OSS contributions if you're not comfortable with financial risk.It sounds cliche but it's true: OSS contributions and activity should not be influenced by money, but rather (and it still often is) mainly by actual interest: hobbyists, researchers, etc.However this is not a fairy tale and things still get moved by money: it's just a matter of priority and where do you see the value.