[bdw5204]

One reason why employers looking at open source contributions would be pernicious is that it biases them towards hiring people who have no life outside of writing code. That perpetuates a prevalent culture in the industry where people can't just write code for a living and do something else with the rest of their time.

People should be able to have other interests besides code and still have a livelihood.

[kbolino]

Conversely, I should be able to spend some time doing something other than working for the man or building something that has to be directly monetized. Contributing to open source projects, even in minor ways, provides some way for me to build a portfolio outside of the constraints of a 9 to 5.

[bdw5204]

I'd agree with that as well. Contributing to open source on your own time should be a choice not an expectation. It shouldn't be something that people do solely for the sake of advancing their career.